Heart and Soul
by Helmi1
Summary: Sequel to In full body and mind. Angel and Buffy have finally found a way to be together but old and new enemies are making their already complicated lives more difficult. B/A. I suck at summaries so read to find out more.
1. Baby, you can drive my car

Heart and Soul

Author: Helmi1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, I don't have any money so it's pointless to sue me.

Summary: Sequel to In full body and mind. Angel and Buffy have finally managed to get back together but life in their world is never easy as they have to fight against what ever the bad guys throw at them. I suck at summaries.

Rating: M, the usual: cursing, violence and so on

Paring: Buffy/Angel, also others

Feedback: Yes please, my muse is one greedy bitch, she feeds on them, good or bad, I'd like to know what you think. Constructive criticism is always welcomed so I can improve my writing.

A/N: This is a sequel to my other story In full body and mind, I would recommend that you read it before this one but it is not necessary. As the previous story, this either doesn't follow the time line.

.

Chapter 1: Baby you can drive my car

It had been six months since Willow and Tara had bound Angels soul. The office had been blown up by Wolfram and Hart and Gunn had joined the AI team. Buffy was quite surprised about that since Gunn hated vampires with passion. Buffy hadn't moved away from Sunnydale but she did spend most of her time in LA.

.

Buffy stepped out of the bus and slung the overnight bag over her shoulder. The bus station was empty and soon also the bus left. She sighed deeply and checked her watch once more. She heard the steps closing and turned around.

"Let me guess, one of those wannabe actress', let me tell you sugar, your career will be a short one", said a male vampire and she just rolled her eyes. "Yours too", she answered and pulled out a stake. That surprised the vampire, he had been expecting a helpless girl not someone who was armed with a wooden stake. She dumped her bag to the ground and kicked the vampire. He fell to the ground but immediately jumped up with his game face on.

"You're going to die, little girl", he growled and attacked her. She ducked his hit and kicked him to the ground again. She rolled her eyes and sighed: "Like I haven't heard that before. Can't you people come up with new lines. Oh right, you're not people." The vampire attacked her again but she fought him off easily.

"Would you stop playing with him?" she heard Angel's voice from behind her. She smirked and shrugged. "Okay", she said like it was nothing and staked the vampire that didn't even have time to react. Once the dust was floating in the air, she turned around and glared at Angel.

"You're late", she stated flatly and picked up her bag from the ground.

"I know. I'm sorry. But Gunn and I had this demon situation. It was harassing little children and..." he started to defend himself but Buffy smiled and interrupted him: "Fine, you're forgiven. Did you guys get it?"

"Yeah. We got it", he answered and took the bag from her. He threw it into the back of his convertible and opened the front door for her. "Always the gentleman", she smiled while sitting down. Angel started the car and began driving. After they had been driving for some time in comfortable silence, he glanced at her from the corner of his eyes.

"What is it?" He sighed and decided to just go for it. "I don't like you traveling on the bus." Buffy turned to look at him and asked clearly confused:

"Why? I've been doing it for over six months." "I know that but it's not safe. You have a drivers license, maybe I could get you a car or something."

"Yeah, I have a drivers license but you know cars and Buffy is a bad combination. What is this really about?" He shifted nervously. "I'm just worried. I know that you can take care of yourself but I would feel a lot better if you had a car."

"Yeah but there's still that Buffy on wheels hazard", she protested and he just let out a small chuckle.

"How about we go to the countryside to practice driving, I'll teach you", he suggested. "You'd let me drive your Angel mobile", she smirked and ran her fingers along the interior. His face grumbled a little and she let out a giggle, his face really was a sight to see.

"Maybe later. First we'll just borrow one", he compromised. She leaned closer to him and whispered to his ear: "So this isn't just a trick to get me to a abandoned road under the stars all by my lonesome?" She gave a gentle lick to his earlobe and fell back to the seat giggling. He looked at her like she was the most evil thing on earth and said: "Maybe that too."

.

Buffy and Angel stepped inside the lobby of Hyperion, she looked around herself searching for the others but there was no one on sight.

"Where is everyone?" she asked and turned to him. He grinned and pulled her into his arms making her drop the bag to the ground. She let out small shriek when he lifted her off the ground and carried her up the stairs with long strides. They didn't manage to get to their bedroom when he pressed her against the hallway wall.

"They know better to stay away when we haven't seen each other in a week", he said to her ear and started kissing her passionately. Her arms wound around his neck and her other hand rose to his head threading her fingers in his hair. His lips abandoned hers and started to drift down her neck paying extra attention to the mark on her neck.

He kissed his way to her neckline but it wasn't enough skin. Hurriedly he pulled her shirt off leaving her only in her black lace bra that made his mouth water. He threw the shirt to the ground and started shedding kisses to her cleavage before sucking her nipples through the fabric. Buffy moaned at the sensation but after a while pulled his face up and claimed his lips hungrily.

He pulled off the wall and quickly strode to their bedroom door, kicking it open and quickly landing on the bed with Buffy in his arms. She let out a soft giggle but soon it was silenced by his lips.

.

The fang gang had gathered back to the hotel, Wesley was fully content in his research and Gunn while sharpened one of the weapons but Cordelia was getting edgy, she had other things to do than wait for the two to come out to breathe.

"How long have they been stuck there? Doesn't he get that she needs air", she huffed crossing her arms in front of her. Wesley lifted his head up from the book and quickly glanced at the clock.

"If I recall correctly, the bus arrived at 8:25 yesterday evening and they haven't been seen since he came down to get her breakfast at nine this morning." Cordelia glanced at the clock and rolled her eyes.

"It's nearly twelve! Okay, that's it, I'm breaking it up, I have things to do!" she said and stomped up the stairs but her confidence started to fade as soon as she saw the room door. Quietly she sneaked to the door and listened carefully for any noises. She knocked on the door and again listened for any sounds that would warn her off. Since there was none, she stepped inside the door, covering her eyes and turning around.

"Are you people descent?" she asked. "Yeah. You can turn around", Buffy answered frowning, few more minutes and they wouldn't have been. Angel quickly grabbed a magazine and placed it on his lap trying to cover the obvious tent in his pants, he was painfully hard and it showed. Cordelia turned around, her long hair swinging with the movement.

"So now that you two have worked off all that extra energy and been doing it like bunnies nearly 12 hours, I'm going to steal Buffy away with me. I found this great store and she so needs clothes and so do I since you people always bring the messy demons here."

"I don't need new clothes", Buffy protested and she couldn't believe she was turning down a shopping trip but spending time with Angel seemed more pleasurable.

"If you don't soon get out of this room, you'll be just as pale as he is", Cordelia threatened seeing the look in Buffy's eyes. "Okay, okay, I'm coming, just give me a minute", Buffy sighed and dragged herself to the bathroom, turning the water running. She just wished Angel could join her, but she also knew that then she wouldn't manage to leave for the shopping trip with Cordy. With a sigh she tested the water and stepped under the spray.

.

Buffy and Cordelia walked into the hotel lobby both hands full of bags. "When you're living in Sunnyhell, why would you visit LA if you're not going to shop? It's like sacrilegious", Cordelia said and let down her bags to the round couch.

"Yes, well I spend almost half of my months salary on clothes, I really shouldn't go shopping with you", Buffy answered but smiled despite herself.

"Yeah, but you looked great in those clothes, it was so worth it", Cordelia said and Buffy's eyes widened, she could never get used to Cordelia being nice to her, in high school she had alway complained about her looks and today she had been telling how great she looked in some of the clothes, okay she did have some tactless comments on some but still.

Cordelia lifted a perfectly plucked eyebrow and shrug her shoulders. "What? You did look great on that blouse. I was giving you a compliment and you look at me like I grew a third eye, I've given compliments before", she said and this time it was Buffy who lifted a eyebrow.

"When?" she asked with a small smile playing on her lips and humor in her voice. "When it's deserved", Cordelia answered and started digging through her shopping bags. She pulled out a black halter dress and dangled it in front of her.

"So what you think, is this good enough for my date? Do you think Tom will loose it once he sees me in this?" she asked with a small mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "Do you want him to loose it?" Buffy asked raising her eyebrow. Cordelia sighed deeply and put the dress back to the bag.

"I don't know yet, he seems nice but given my track record, you never know." "Well for the first date, put something nice but safe, if the date is good, wear the knock out dress for the next", Buffy suggested and a wide smile rose to Cordelia's face.

"Yeah, I'll put the lavender dress with the thin straps, I've been dying to wear it." But her smile wavered and she looked at the ceiling with a firm look on her face.

"There better not be any skull crushing visions tonight, it's my night off, you hear me?!" she said to the air with a voice that left no room for discussion. Angel walked down the stairs and looked at the two women in question, he had just managed to hear Cordelia's threat to the PTB.

"You're back", he stated and made his way to Buffy, pulling her into a long kiss. "Oh please! We've been gone for couple hours!" Cordelia said rolling her eyes as the couple was obvious to the world surrounding them.

"Okay people, time to separate. I mean it, before I pick up the hose", Cordelia threatened but it didn't seem to make any affect on the couple. After they broke apart, Buffy smiled brightly at the man in front of her.

"I take it you missed me." "Yeah. How about we practise driving tonight?" "You gonna let me drive your car?" Buffy asked raising her brows in amusement.

"You gonna let her drive your car!?" yelped Gunn who had just stepped into the room with Wesley.

"You're kidding, she's worse driver than I am", Cordelia added and everyone turned to look at her in question. "What?! Well at least equally bad", she added trying to look innocent.

"At least I don't drive through school buildings", Buffy smirked playfully at her. "Yeah, you just burn them. Or blow them up", Cordelia answered in same tone.

"Besides, I haven't had the time to practise on driving, I've got the licence but it doesn't do any good, I don't have a car and chasing vampires with a car really is ridiculous and Sunnydale is so small that I can walk where I want to", Buffy justified her lack of a car.

"But you're spending a lot of time here and it's not safe." "She's the slayer, it's not like she can't take care of herself. And if she gets to drive you car, can I too?" Gunn asked. "No!" Angel shot back as soon as he asked.

"And I know Buffy can take care of herself but it would make me feel better if she didn't have to use the bus and relay on us to provide the ride home", Angel explained and Buffy smiled as she heard him call the hotel her home.

"But you're letting her drive your car, man. You don't let anyone drive it", Gunn said clearly not getting over the fact. Cordelia rolled her eyes.

"Well, you're not the one he's cooked up with in his room nearly 24 hours. And I need to get ready for my date, bye", she said and picked up the bags before heading for the door. "Have a great time", Buffy yelled after her and she just waved her hand absently in return.

"Cordy has a date?" Wesley asked confused. "Yeah, with a guy she met in a audition", Buffy answered and turned back to Angel.

"So you're really letting me drive your Angel mobile?" she asked with a smile tucking her lips. "Some sacrifices need to be made", he said back with a lopsided grin. They fell back into their own little world and soon the two men in the room, realised that they wouldn't be noticed so they went on their own ways, Gunn shaking his head at the couple.

.

Buffy smiled at Angel as he wiped a sweaty lock of hair from her face. She leaned down and claimed his lips into a soft yet passionate kiss. After pulling back, she slipped back to the seat next to him and turned to look at him.

"I definitely like you better as a driving instructor than the last one", she said smirking, still trying to steady her breathing. "Well I'm glad you enjoyed it", he answered with a small lopsided smirk playing on his lips also.

"Oh, I didn't seem to be the only one enjoying it. But if the last one would have tried some of the moves you did, I would have kicked his ass." "That's good to know." That earned him a playful slap in the arm.

"I hate to say this but maybe we should start going back, we still have time for some patrolling", she said with a sigh. "You want to drive back?" A smile rose to her lips but she shook her head.

"We'll leave that for the next driving lesson", she said and leaned in to kiss him. As soon as the kiss ended, he started the car and headed back to the city.

"You're really not that bad driver when you concentrate", he stated, keeping his eyes on the road. "Thanks. But I still think my legs are more practical."

"Next we need to find you a car", he said thoughtfully. "Yeah, but we need find cheap enough, my budget is a little tight on the matter", Buffy answered and changed her position on the seat to more comfortable one.

"I'll pay for it", Angel said and Buffy whipped her head to the side to look at him. "No you're not. If I'm going to get a car, I'm going to pay for it", she said sternly but that didn't stop Angel.

"Buffy, I've got the money, I can buy the car." "You're sweet, and I know you mean well but I need to buy it on my own, I'm really getting a hang of this independence thing and no offence but I don't need you to always take care of me. I love you and I love that you are willing to do this to me but I want to buy it on my own", she explained and he didn't look too happy but nodded in understanding.

"I understand", he said with a expression that dangerously looked like a pout. Buffy looked at him and gave a small giggle, reaching her hand out and playing with the short hair on the back of his neck.

"You're cute when you pout, you should do it more often", she said playfully. "I do not pout", he protested and earned another giggle from her.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'll let you do the dirty work on the car for me, like changing oils and tires", she said with a smile and earned a small lopsided grin from him.

"Very generous of you." "Don't you think", she smiled back and gave a quick kiss to the side of his mouth before settling back to her seat, letting him drive without distractions.

.

Buffy and Angel returned to the hotel after quick patrol which lead Angel being soaked in demon goo. Angel headed straight to the shower while Buffy picked up the shopping bags from earlier and placed them to the bed.

Ten minutes later Angel appeared from the shower, wearing only a towel loosely hanging on his hips. She walked to his, pressing a quick kiss to his lips and messing his wet hair.

"You got all the goo out", she stated. "I've had worse", he answered and pulled her against his side wetting her clothes in the process.

"You got me all wet", she said and blushed as she realized what it sounded like. "I need to put the clothes away before bed. I got you something too, it's in the bag", she continued pulling a step away from him. He looked at her suspiciously and went to the bed, looking into one of the bags. A smirk rose to his lips and he turned to look at her, lifting a piece of clothing from the bag.

"I don't think it will fit", he said cheekily and showed a red lace babydoll.

"Funny. That's for you two but I would prefer that you wear the shirt in the other bag and let me wear that." "I think I like that arrangement", he answered with a smile and turned to peek into the other bag. He placed the babydoll to the bed and pulled a shirt out of the bag, it was dark maroon, dress shirt and it felt like good quality fabric in his fingers.

"You shouldn't have", he protested but she shook her head and crossed the distance between them.

"I wanted to. And besides, it's not like you can do a lot of shopping yourself. I chose the red since you like the creature of the night-look, lighter color might have been too much of a culture shock at once", she smirked. Angel leaned down and kissed her, it was a long, sweet kiss. He pulled back with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"What else have you got in those bags?" he asked and glanced at the abandoned babydoll on the bed. "If you're lucky, I'll model them for you", she answered with a seductive smile playing on her lips and he pulled her into another kiss.

.

Buffy was sitting in the office sipping her morning coffee when Cordelia arrived. She lifted her gaze and the brunette did seem to be on a good mood, so she took it as a good sign.

"How was your date?" she asked. "I think I get to wear the black halter", Cordelia answered smiling widely but the smile disappeared and she yelped in pain, clutching her head in her hands before she started to crumble to the ground. Buffy went quickly to her, preventing her from falling to the ground and keeping her on her feet. She guided Cordelia to sit on the chair and went to the door.

"Hey guys! Bat signal!" she yelled from the door before hurrying back to Cordelia. Cordelia gave her a annoyed look but for once didn't say anything.

"What did you see?" Buffy asked with a slight concern on her voice. "A really ugly demon, some kind of a warehouse and a dark haired girl chained into a wall." The others rushed into the room, all of them looking concerned for the seer. Cordelia gave the description of the demon and the warehouse to the others and they started researching the books, even Buffy opened a book much to her own protest.

.

Buffy lifted her face from the book and looked at the others gathered around the table.

"You wouldn't happen to have a good snitch around, someone like Willy? This would be a little quicker", she said but Angel just shook his head.

"Sorry. We could go to Caritas but I doubt it would help", he answered with a small smile. "Caritas?"

"It's a demon bar, violence-free zone, the host reads auras and destinies but you'd have to sing." "I think I've been there. Bunch of demons doing bad karaoke and the red horned host wearing bright suits that put the neon signs in Vegas in shame?" she questioned raising a eyebrow and he chuckled. "That's probably it."

Cordelia sighed in boredom and stood up going to the television set. She pushed power but the program had just gone to commercial brake, she was about to shut it down again when something caught her attention.

"That's her!" she yelled drawing everyones attention. She pointed at the tv where a commercial was playing, a young dark haired girl smiled from the tv screen. "That's the girl in my vision", she repeated to the others. The commercial ended, appearing that it was about a holiday resort, not that anyone would have guessed without the name and number at the end.

"I guess we should call them and ask who's their agency, maybe we'll get lucky and get to who she is", Buffy suggested and the others agreed. Angel dialed the number on the phone since he was the only one who still remembered the phone number from the ad but it was Cordelia who spoke on the phone. She flirted shamelessly with the man on the other end and finally got the name of the agency that handled the commercial and hiring of the young actress.

Buffy headed to the agency with Cordelia while the others stayed looking for the demon. Two hours later the two women returned with a name, Claire Stewart, address and information when she was last seen.

"Claire was on a date with a tall, dark and handsome guy, the nosy neighbour gave us the score, and she didn't come home that night, I doubt anything could have gone past the woman living next to her, so I figure she was taken after or during her date", Buffy gave the score.

"But we don't know who the guy is or where they went?" Angel asked and Buffy nodded. "Yes and no. The neighbour managed to pry the name of the restaurant but not the guys name, she just saw him by a flash from the car, it was black, new and she doesn't know what kind."

"I suppose we should see if there is any warehouses near the restaurant, it's a long shot but it appears it is all we have right now", Wesley said and closed the book he was reading. He went and picked up a map book of Los Angeles and started going through it. Buffy went to stand next to him and gave him the name of the restaurante. Five minutes later they had the map and there was three abandoned warehouses in the mile distance.

Gunn stopped shifting through the book he was holding and looked at the drawing Angel had made by Cordelia's description. "How 'bout his ugly son of a bitch?" Gunn asked and showed the book to Cordelia who grimaced at the picture.

"Yeah, that's the thing I saw", she confirmed and the others came to look at the demon. "I don't think I can pronounce that name", Buffy said as she looked at the letters in the demons name.

"Well, Krzi... Krzim... Oh I can't either", Wesley confessed before he made anymore fool of himself. "It is also called Beautys death, it preys on beautiful young women, sacrifices them in the name of his king and apparently eats the heart to stay young to lour more women in his trap", he continued trying to cover his lack of pronouncing the name.

"So a real charmer", Buffy said wryly and frowned. She glanced at the door, sun was just setting. Angel did the same, even though he could always feel when the sun was going down and rising back up.

"We should start checking the warehouses, hopefully she's still alive", he said and the others nodded, heading for the weapons.

.

The gang had checked out two of the warehouses, to save time they had separated to two groups, Buffy leading the other one. The two groups met outside the third warehouse.

"Not any luck?" Angel asked and Buffy shook his head. "No, so hopefully we get the prize behind door number three."

"You guys go through the back, we take the front", Angel said and Buffy nodded, she was still getting used to Angel giving the orders. Buffy, Cordelia and Wesley went around the building and sneaked inside with weapons at ready. They walked into the great hall, staying at shadows, they saw Claire chained to the wall, her face and clothes were grimy, her once a beautiful dress badly torn and her whole body violently battered. They saw, what looked like a man, walk to her with a dagger in his hand. His face was hidden in the shadows of his black robe but they were sure it was their demon.

"You guys stay back, I don't want you to get hurt, try to get her free and out of here as we fight the demon", she said and raised her axe at ready. She sneaked closer to the demon and stepped out of the shadows after seeing that Angel was too approaching the demon.

"You know, I had planned this quiet evening at home with my boyfriend but you just had to come and try to sacrifice a young girl to some lame ass demon", she said and the man/demon spun around to look at her. A cold wolfish smile rose to his lips and he stalked closer to Buffy.

"I love LA, apparently here they deliver the sacrifices. You're not really my type, I'm more into young, tall brunettes but I'll make exception", he said and tried to grap her but she easily ducked and struck him hard in the back with her elbow. The hood of his robe slid back and Cordelia gasped as she saw his face.

"Tom!" she yelped in surprise. "This is Tom?" Buffy asked raising her eyebrows and struck Tom again but once in the ground he spun around and kicked Buffy into her chin. She staggered back and Angel viciously attacked Tom, his face morphed into his demon visage and a threatening growl deep in his chest. Tom was little taken back by the clearly raged vampire and he tried to shield himself with the dagger, trying to slice Angel but only managing to make him more angry.

"Get her out of here!" Buffy yelled to the others and went to help Angel. The others rushed to Claire, trying to yank the chains off but with no use, finally Gunn raised his axe and started to bound the chains, trying to cut them.

At the same time, Tom managed to cut a deep wound into Angel chest, he growled in anger and Buffy glanced at him with concern, soon her face changing cold with determination. She attacked Tom with fierce efficiency and with a swing of her axe cut his arm off but soon her eyes widened as she saw it grow back with a dark blue scaly skin and long nails.

"Wes! If I cut this things head off, will it grow back!?" she yelled at Wesley while dodging the long nails Tom was swinging her way. "Yes! You need to stab him in the heart with something that is blessed for his king!" Wesley yelled back.

"The dagger", Angel stated and punched Tom hard in the face, some of his skin ripping off and revealing the same kind of skin as his arm had. Tom spun around and hit Angel hard in his chest with both hands, sending him flying across the floor. Buffy kicked him in the chest before swinging her axe and cutting off the arm that held the dagger, the arm sliding far away from them, still holding the dagger. Another scaly arm grew in its place and Tom managed to scrape four deep wounds across her chest with his long nails.

"Buffy!" Angel yelled and threw the dagger to her. She caught it easily and sank it into Toms heart, twisting it in the wound till the demon fell to the ground. Angel quickly made his way to Buffy and tenderly touched her cheek.

"You're wounded", he stated as the strong smell of blood assaulted his nostrils, he saw the deep wounds even though they weren't bleeding anymore. "So are you. Besides, it's just a little scrape, I'll be healing in no time", she assured him with a small smile and started walking towards the others that were still trying to cut the chains.

The others turned to them, Wesley's face flushed from working on the chains. "Angel, help me yank the chains loose", Buffy said and Angel nodded. They both grabbed the chains and yanked hard, the chain snapping in half. Angel caught Claire as she started to fall to the ground and he lifted her into his arms. They started to move to the door.

"I'm sorry your date turned out to be a woman sacrificing demon", Buffy said to Cordelia as they walked.

"That's it! I'm swearing off men!" she said in agitation. "So you've had a little bad luck with men, but it doesn't mean that you won't meet the right one, someday", she tried to comfort the brunette.

"It's easy for you to say, you found the right one when you were 16." "And it hasn't been easy with us but it has been worth it. You are a great person, when you want to be, so you've had few set backs but that doesn't mean the good thing isn't just around the corner", Buffy tried but Cordelia didn't seem too convinced.

"Well, I hope so", she finally said and they continued to walk to the car in silence.

.

They took Claire to the hospital and returned to the hotel. The evening was quiet and they dreaded the next day when Buffy had to go back to Sunnydale. They all had gotten used to Buffy being there and it made their job so much easier.

The dreaded Sunday came and Cordelia dragged Buffy to the beach despite her protests, she insisted that Buffy needed to work on her tan since she spend most of her time out when the sun had already set. They returned from the beach two hours later and grudgingly Buffy started to pack her bags.

Angel walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her resting his chin on her shoulder. She sighed in content and turned to look at him.

"I could stay", she tried but Angel just smiled at her. "No you can't. Tomorrow is a school day for you", he answered and pressed a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth.

"I know, I know. School and duty on the Hellmouth. I wish it was Friday", she sighed and rested her hands on top of his arms. "Me too. Are you all packed?" She just nodded solemnly and leaned in to zip the bag on the bed.

"Unfortunately", she said and turned in his arms. She lifted her arms around his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss. As soon as the kiss was over, he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek and pulled away, lifting the bag over his shoulder.

"We better get going", he said but didn't sound too happy about it. She nodded and they went downstairs where the others were waiting.

"I'm gonna drive Buffy to Sunnydale, I'll be back before the sunrise", Angel told the others and earned a chuckle from Gunn. "Man, you're whipped", he said with humor in his voice and Angel cast a stern look on his way.

"Stop teasing him. Wait until you find the right girl and we'll see who's whipped", Buffy shot back with a small smile playing on her lips.

"No woman is going to tame me", Gunn boasted but Buffy just laughed. "We'll see about that." Cordelia stepped forward and gave Buffy a stern look.

"Remember to call me. To me, not here so Angel can just grab the phone away from. I seriously need my gossip on the Sunnyhell, I really need to know if Aura is as fat as I heard she was", she said to Buffy. Aura had once been one of the cordettes back in high school, her so called friend but she was little hostile towards them, remembering how they treated her when she was with Xander.

"Okay, I'll try to dig up that vital information for you", Buffy chuckled and Cordelia seemed pleased with her answer. Buffy glanced at the door and turned back to the others.

"Okay, I'll see you guys on Friday", she said and after quick goodbyes, started towards the door with Angel. Angel threw the bag in the trunk and went around to open the door for her.

"Always the gentleman", she smiled and gave him a quick kiss. He closed the door and went around the car, sitting to the drivers seat.

"You couldn't possibly stay in Sunnydale for few days?" she suggested with a seductive smile as Angel pulled the car into the traffic. He quickly glanced at Buffy with a smile twitching on his lips.

"As tempting as it sounds, I can't. We both know it." "Yeah. But it was worth a shot", she smiled and leaned against the seat watching the scenery passing by.

.

To be continued...

**A/N:** If you're wondering the title of this chapter it comes from Beatles song by the same name, just from the title, not the lyrics.


	2. What's My Destiny?

Chapter 2: What's my destiny?

Buffy sat in Giles' living room giving the report of slaying, Giles had been more than happy to hear about the slaying in LA and even though he knew it was childish, he couldn't help but feel small pride of the fact that Wesley couldn't pronounce the demons name. But his smile faded as soon as Buffy told him she was going to buy a car.

"Do you think it is wise, we do know your... umm... experiences with cars are... something to improve of. And chasing vampires with a car isn't very practical", he protested somewhat awkwardly. Buffy smiled at his discomfort.

"Relax, Giles. Angel is giving me driving lessons and it's not like I'm gonna use it for slaying, just to drive from Sunnydale and LA. You have nothing to worry about, I'm a sworn pedestrian but a walk to LA is a little bit too long even for me."

"Buffster on wheels, remember to let me know before you start the car so I can stay inside", Xander quipped and Buffy send a glare at his way. Ignoring Xander, Willow send a quirky smile at Buffy.

"So Angel is teaching you to drive", she questioned and a smile rose to Buffy's lips. "Yeah, he even let me drive his car. He lets no one drive his car", she said and the two women shared a laugh before moving to the kitchen where they could talk more privately.

"Oh come on! Giles, aren't you going to do anything about that", Xander turned to Giles for support. Giles shook his head tiredly and removed his glasses, starting to clean them.

"And what do you suppose I do, Xander? Buffy is an adult, she is a independent young woman, there is nothing I can do to make her change her mind about seeing Angel", Giles explained to the boy but he didn't seem satisfied with his answer.

"You're her watcher", he protested and Giles turned sharply to look at him. "Yes I am and she is a adult woman, she can make her own decisions and could you please get over the irrational jealousy against Angel", Giles said loosing his patience and Xander looked at him like he had slapped him.

"I am not jealous of that blood sucker! How can you all just forgive and forget, he killed miss Calendar, don't you remember!?" Giles jumped to his feet and gave Xander a look that resembled very much of Ripper and he pointed him accusingly.

"Don't you dare bring Jenny into this", he said to the boy nearly threateningly. Wisely he cowered in font of the older man and he knew he had gone too far this time. "I'm sorry, Giles", he said repentantly and the older man watched him carefully. Slowly he started to calm down.

"Apology accepted", he said and removed his glass' starting to clean them. "You really should try to think before you act, Xander. Buffy can make her own decisions, and in this case she is going to do them did we like it or not. I do know I have some hostilities against Angel but I also realize that it was a different being that murdered Jenny. There is no more danger of bringing Angelus forth, so it is really not our business if she wants to spend her time with him", he continued as the voice of reason.

"But..." Xander tried to protest but Giles shook his head, silencing him. "There is no but. If you want to keep your relationship with Buffy as it is, I recommend that you try to accept Angel as a part of her life. She is in love with him, like she always has been and it might endanger your friendship if you keep up with the open hostility towards him. I know you have feelings towards her and you don't want her to get hurt, not one of us do, but she is also a woman deeply in love, there has been many obstacles between her and Angel and they have survived them all, that should be enough to show that it isn't a passing affair." Xander didn't respond, just directed his gaze to the Willow and Buffy who returned to the room with wide smiles blasted on their faces. He clapped his hands together and made way to the couple.

"So, how 'bout we hit the Bronze tonight? Have a real girls night out", he suggested and the girls raised their eyebrows in question.

"Come on, I'm practically one of the girls these days, I'm out numbered now that Willow is with Tara. What you say?" Willow and Buffy glanced at each other and nodded at him.

"Okay, could be fun", Buffy said, she was hoping this could be the way to try to make things right between her and Xander, things between them hadn't been the same since Faith took over her body and she missed the friendship they shared.

"Uu... Just like old times", Willow said excited and her smile just widened.

.

The gang met at the Bronze after Buffy made quick sweep through the cemeteries. When she arrived, the others were already in the table, Willow and Tara practically glued to each others sides and Anya sitting in Xander's lap, Buffy couldn't help but feel like a fifth wheel and she hadn't even sat down yet.

"Hey guys", she said and gave a quick wave. "Hey. How was patrol?" Willow asked turning his attention from her girlfriend to her best friend. "Okay, just one vamp, out of towner", she answered and sat down to the table.

"So, when are you planning on buying the car?" Xander asked. "Don't know yet, Gunn is going to help me with the checking once we find something, unless its after sundown."

"Gun?" Xander asked trying to keep the hostility out of his voice. "He's a friend in LA. Helps with the slaying and all that. I was sure I had told you about him." And she had, not just to Xander since their relationship had been so tense lately.

"What kind of a name is Gun? Is he in a gang or something?" Buffy chuckled at the jealous behavior Xander was showing. "It's his last name, with two N's. He's a good guy", she explained.

"Why the sudden rush to get a car, I thought we all know that Buffy and four wheels is not a good combination?" Xander said jokingly, trying to get his mind off of the fact that she had a new friend in LA. "Angel doesn't like me taking the bus and having to wait for a ride at the station. Besides, he's been teaching me to drive", Buffy said with a smile playing on her lips, she and Willow shared a look.

"Is that a code word for sex?" Anya shot and Xander shook his head in embarrassment. "No, he's actually letting me drive his car", Buffy said to her seriously, but kept to herself what else they had been doing.

"Then it's no interest to me. Xander, I wanna dance", Anya said bluntly and pulled Xander out of his seat leading him to the dance floor.

"Do you think everything is about sex to her?" Buffy asked turning to the two women still sitting at the table. "And money, ever since Giles bought the Magic Shop, I think she's been more into the money than sex. Although I feel it's less awkward subject to us, so it's really a relief", Willow said with a awkward smile.

"So, can we see you to the bus station on Friday?" she changed the subject but frowned as Buffy shook her head. "Sorry, Angel's picking me up. He's really going all the way in the 'not letting me use the bus'. Not that I'm complaining", Buffy explained not managing to suppress the smile that mentioning Angel brought to her lips.

"I detect someone likes the overprotective Angel?" Willow smirked and Buffy tried to play coy with her, not succeeding. "Well, yeah. Overprotective Angel means more time with Angel and I take all I can get, we've already been apart for too long in my book." She glanced at the dance floor where Xander and Anya were dancing, forgetting their friends in the table. Buffy sighed deeply and turned back to the other couple.

"I'm gonna go get a drink. You guys want anything?" she said and rose to her feet. Both girls shook their heads. "No, I'm fine", Willow said and pointed at the half drunk glass of coke. "No, thank you", was Tara quiet answer. Buffy nodded and made her way to the bar but turned to walk to the other end of the club. Willow turned to Tara with a quirky smile playing on her lips. "I bet she's going to call Angel", she said and Tara nodded in agreement.

"Where'd Buffy go?" Xander asked as he and Anya returned to the table. "To get a drink", Willow smirked not telling him the truth knowing that it might put a dent to the newfound peace between them. Xander looked at her suspiciously but didn't say anything.

Buffy waited by the public phone for someone to answer and soon she heard Cordelia's voice: "Angel investigations, we help the helpless." Buffy couldn't help but chuckle. "Hey Cordy", she said to the phone.

"Buffy! Can't you just come back here right now cause the brooding is seriously getting on my nerves. And now dish all the gossip", Cordelia said excitedly to the phone.

"Sorry to tell you this, Cordy, but Aura isn't fat, she's just working at a fast food joint", she said to the phone and heard Cordelia huff. "Well, I guess that is good enough", she said and Buffy heard her slap something.

"Get away! You're not getting this phone!" Cordelia yelled at Angel and tried to get away but he blocked her entrance and grabbed the phone away from her. "Buffy?", he said to the phone and she laughed on the other end.

Cordelia huffed and crossed her arms in front of her glaring at him. "Fine, hog the phone. You better tell her to call me later since it's impossible to talk to her even for five minutes without you stealing the phone. I need to know about Aura's situation!" she yelled at Angel and stomped out of the office. Buffy couldn't help but laugh again.

"I take it you heard what she said?" Angel asked and sat in front of the desk. "Yeah, I heard. Tell her I'll call once I get back home."

"Where are you?" he asked, carefully listening to the sounds in the background. "Bronze. We're having a girls night out, Xander is our unofficial girl, he claims he's outnumbered. I think things are getting between us", she answered, leaning to the wall next to the phone.

"That's good." "You don't have to pretend, I know Xander isn't your favorite person", she said with a smile. "No matter how I feel about him, he's your friend and you were suffering because how the things were between you too."

"You really should stop being so rational and sweet all the time", she said his words clearly making her slightly emotional. "I've been accused of worse things", he chuckled at her, picking up the pen and starting doodle to the piece of paper that was laying on the table.

"Anything new there?" "Not much, we're tracking a demon that's been preying on some high school students, fortunately it hasn't killed anyone."

"Need any help?" Buffy asked perking up. "Nice try, Buffy. You're not getting off your studies that easily", he chuckled and she let out a sigh.

"Well it was worth a shot", she smirked and continued with the shop talk: "You have any trouble finding the thing?" Angel nodded absently. "Yeah, some, it's a slippery devil. We went to Caritas to find some information."

"Did you have to sing?" Buffy asked with a wide smile. "Yeah." "Let me guess, some corny ballad." "Mandy", he said closing his eyes as he heard Buffy laughing.

"I wish I had been there", she said, she could just imagine him awkwardly singing in front of a herd of half drunk demons. "No you don't", he said, a small crooked smile rising to his lips.

"I can't wait for Friday. But I have to go, I just called to hear your voice, I'm supposed to be just getting a drink", she said not really wanting to hang up the phone. "Okay, go back to your friends and have a good time. I'll see you on Friday. I love you." "I love you too. I'll be counting the days and hours. Bye", she said and grudgingly put the phone down. She closed her eyes sighing deeply, Friday was too far away.

Angel hung up the phone and his eyes landed on the doodle he had been mindlessly working on during the phone call, a small smile rose to his lips as he stared at the sketch of Buffy's smiling face.

Buffy pushed herself off the wall and started walking towards the bar, remembering she was supposed to go get a drink. She didn't get to order anything when a unstable looking woman grabbed her arms forcing her to look her right into her piercing blue eyes.

"They are coming", she said hauntingly. "Who?" Buffy asked confused but the woman didn't answer, she let go of her arms and quickly disappeared into the crowd. She tried to see where the woman went but there was no trace of her. Finally she made her way back to her friends, still scanning the room.

"I thought you were getting a drink?" Xander said and looked at her suspiciously. Willow noticed the distracted look on her friends face and was immediately worried.

"What happened? Is something wrong?" she asked, worry marring her voice. Buffy shook herself out of the haze and turned to look into Willow's concerned eyes.

"A woman stopped me, said they are coming", she said absently, looking around the room. "Who are coming?" Xander asked, he too realizing something was going on.

"She didn't say, she just disappeared. She just said 'they are coming'." She shook her head and ran her hand through her hair. "I'm sorry, it just threw me", she apologized and sat into the chair, still keeping alert eyes scanning the room.

.

Buffy couldn't get her mind off of what the strange woman had said and it truly bothered her. Not even several long phone calls with Angel eased her mind and by the end of the week she feeling like she was going crazy.

She was lounging on the couch when she heard a knock to the door. "It's open", she yelled, she rarely locked her door when she was home. Willow and Xander walked in with their girlfriends.

"Still thinking about what the woman said?" Willow asked seeing the look on her face. She nodded solemnly and sighed. "Yeah, it's driving me nuts."

"Maybe Angel can take your mind off of it, from the look of him, I bet he gives great orgasms", Anya said and Buffy blushed, so much for her just thinking about money.

"Anya, please could you stop, nobody wants to know about the orgasms Angel gives Buffy", Xander said firmly to his girlfriend. "Oh, but I want to know", Anya answered with her usual lack of tact. "Not gonna happen, Anya", Buffy said wryly.

"Could we please change the subject?" Xander cried out, he had never wanted to know how far Buffy and Angel went in their relationship, he wanted to live in the sweet denial of thinking they were still in celibate.

"When is Angel coming to pick you up?" Willow asked, changing the subject. "About now", Buffy answered with a smile.

"Your Angel sense is tingling?" she teased earning a incredulous look from Xander. "That too, but I can see him standing on the door that you left open", Buffy answered chuckling. Everyone turned to look at the door where Angel was leaning against the door frame.

"Hey", he said with a crooked smile playing on his lips and he made his way to Buffy after she signaled him to come in. He pressed a quick kiss to her lips, still feeling a little awkward kissing her in front of her friends.

"Well, my carriage is waiting", she said and stood up from the couch others following her to the door. She was about to pick her suitcase but Angel beat her to it, picking it up easily and heading to the car. She locked the door on her way out and as soon as she turned around, Willow pulled her into a tight hug.

"Wills, I'm only gone for two days", she chuckled and smiled at her friend who finally let go of her. "I know", Willow said slightly embarrassed of her clingy behavior that occurred every time she was seeing Buffy off to LA.

"Okay, guys, I really should be going", she said and they made their way out of the building. Angel had put her suitcase into the trunk and was now waiting for her by the car, leaning into the passengers door.

"I'll see you guys on Sunday", she said with a wave of her hand and went to the car. Angel pulled away from it and opened the door for her, earning a smile from his efforts. He walked around the car and sat behind the wheel, ready to drive away when Buffy pulled him into a passionate kiss. When she pulled away, she was breathing heavily from both lack of oxygen and from the intensity of the kiss.

"After nearly a week of not seeing you, I needed a little more than a quick chaste kiss from you. Don't worry, I checked, they are already gone", she said with a cheeky smile and leaned into a quick kiss before leaning back into her seat. Angel drove off but after a long silence and several glances at her way, he had to break it.

"What's wrong?" he asked tentatively. "Nothing", Buffy tried to dodge it but Angel wouldn't have it. "Really, tell me", he encouraged and she sighed heavily closing her eyes before opening them again.

"What the woman said at the Bronze has really been bothering me. It's probably nothing but I still can't get it out of my mind. It's driving me nuts", she said and he took her hand into his, giving it a small squeeze.

"If it bothers you so much, we could stop by in Caritas and ask the host to read you", he suggested.

"Would I have to sing?" she asked with a grimace. "Yes you would", he chuckled and she couldn't suppress the groan from surfacing. "It might help", he added.

"Yeah, I bet this is just a payback that I laughed at you for singing Mandy." "That too. But I want you all to myself, without your mind wandering into some cryptic old lady", he answered and pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles.

.

Buffy and Angel went straight to Caritas which was a strange place for a slayer to be, her senses were screaming to her but she forced herself relax. The green skinned demon with a outrageous suit walked to them with his arms wide.

"Pumpkin, you're back", he said and Buffy raised her eyebrow in amusement. "Pumpkin?" she asked Angel fighting not to burst out laughing. Angel send her a half glare and then glared at the demon in front of them.

"And you brought the girlfriend. Oh sugar, you are one lovely piece of art", the host said turning to Buffy and pulling her into a warm hug. "No wonder he has his boxers on a twist every time you leave the city", he continued and looked at her like she was a fine sculpture. Buffy could only stare at him.

"Oh where are my manners, my name is Lorne, sweetness", he said and offered her his hand. With a brief hesitation she took it and introduced herself: "Buffy."

"Oh, I know. You wouldn't believe how much all the people here talk about you. You're famous, honey, the notorious slayer and the all so bittersweet romance the two born enemies in love." "They talk about me?" Buffy asked incredulously raising her brows in surprise. "Yes they do. You're so much prettier than I expected but I'm guessing you didn't come here for small talk", he said and Buffy nodded.

"Yeah, you would be guessing right. Angel said you read people." "That I do. I can't wait to hear you sing. What will it be? I can squeeze you in after a chaos demon with a slight drinking problem", Lorne chatted, pulling her under his arm and leading her towards the bar, away from Angel.

Twenty minutes later and a embarrassing singing from a drunken chaos demon, Buffy made her way out of the stage to the corner table Angel was residing.

"Are you going to torture me for the next ten years of my life now that I sang Wind beneath my wings?" she asked him only half jokingly. "No, I kinda like that song", he answered sincerely and slightly embarrassed. Buffy raised her brows and looked him straight to his face.

"You're scary", she said deadpanned but soon the seriousness was gone and she leaned over the table to give him a quick kiss. "Aww", they heard Lorne's cooing from behind and quickly they sat back to their seats. He was standing next to the table with a drink in his hand and a wide smile blasted on his face.

"You two are the cutest couple I've ever seen", he said and nervously Buffy stood up, she needed to know what was ahead. Seeing her nervousness, he smiled at her warmly and pulled her into a warm hug.

"Congratulations, sweetie pie", Lorne told her, his smile just widening seeing her surprised 'deer caught in headlights-look'. "What? What did you see?" Buffy asked now even more nervous than before.

"Can't tell you yet, it wouldn't be a surprise. But I can tell you this, it's all good", he assured her and she let out a sigh of relief as did Angel. "So you're not gonna tell me what it is you saw?"

"Nope, but you'll find out soon", Lorne said cryptically his smile not wavering a bit.

.

Buffy and Angel walked to the car after leaving Caritas. "Well, that was interesting", she said with a small crooked smile on her lips. "Yeah."

"Lorne's very... bubbly", she continued, for a moment searching for a word that would describe him. Angel just nodded in conformation, a smile rising to his lips also. They reached the car but before he could even open the door for her, she attacked his lips, her arms winding around his shoulders and she kissed him feverishly. Without a moments hesitation he returned the kiss with as much passion. After the air was coming a problem, he pulled away, both breathing heavily even though he didn't need the air.

"Wow", she whispered breathlessly and gave him a bright smile. "Yeah." "How 'bout we go to celebrate now that we know nothing bad is coming right now. I promise my mind won't be wandering anywhere", she whispered to his ear before giving it a small gentle nip. He suppressed a groan and pulled her into another hot kiss full of passion.

"Let's go", he breathed into her ear and opened the passenger door.

.

To be continued...


	3. Craving for you

Chapter 3: Craving for you

Angel was laying on the bed, staring at the sleeping woman in his bed. He had been up for hours, had his breakfast and practiced sword fighting in the basement and he was slowly starting to wonder why she hadn't got up yet. She had seemed tired for the past month but she usually didn't sleep so late no matter what.

Slowly she opened her eyes and stared into his, a small smile crept into lips and she looked at him suspiciously.

"What? Is my bed head really that bad?" she asked and he shook his head. "You look lovely", he answered and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

"You wouldn't want to have breakfast, would you?" he asked and she nodded, a wide smile appearing to her face.

"I'm starving. You wouldn't happen to have cookie dough fudge mint ice cream too, would you?" she said brightly and got off the bed pulling him with her. "Ice cream for breakfast?" he questioned raising his eyebrow.

"Well, yeah. I could kill for some cookie dough fudge mint chip ice cream right now. I don't know where it's coming from but I'd do anything for it", she said and leaned into his ear whispering huskily: "Anything." He turned to look at her in surprise and she just gave him a seductive grin before making her way downstairs.

After getting his head together, he followed her to the kitchen and started making her breakfast, while she sat up to the counter, nibbling at a piece of cheese. She was watching his every move with a smile playing on her lips, she loved to watch him cook since she wasn't any good in the kitchen, all she could do was coffee and he didn't drink it. She smelled the slice of cheese in her fingers, scrunching her nose.

"Does this smell funky to you?" she asked and offered the slice for him to sniff, which he did and shook his head. "It smells like cheese. Why?" he asked and kept stirring the ingredients in a bowl.

"I just thought it smelled funky, but if you can't trust a vamps sense of smell then who's can you", she said and dropped the slice into trash can. "Okay, so no cheese in your omelet", he stated and with few swift moves sliced the tomato into the eggs. He stirred the ingredients and poured it down to the hot frying pan.

"So where's the ice cream?" she asked like a little girl, hopping down the counter. He turned to look at her in amusement. "You're really going to eat ice cream for breakfast?" he asked and she nodded like it was the dumbest question she had heard.

"Yeah. I really, REALLY want cookie dough fudge mint ice cream. I even had dreams of it." A crooked smile rose to his lips and he leaned closer to her, whispering into her ear. "Care to share?" Buffy turned to look at his face, a grin tucking her lips but she just shook her head and headed to the freezer.

"Use your imagination", she finally said and pulled out the carton of ice cream, smirking at him and jumping back sitting to the counter. His eyes raked up and down her body and he leaned into a searing kiss, his arms wrapping around her body and pulling her flush against his body, nearly off the counter. The door opened and Cordelia quickly covered her eyes.

"Could you please not do that here, people eat in this kitchen!?" she said and glared at the lovers. 'It's not safe anywhere in this house', she thought to herself in a huff. "Want an omelet?" Angel asked innocently, pulling away from Buffy who just looked at Cordelia just as innocently, yet her flushed face and swollen lips betraying that she wasn't all so innocent. She just opened the ice cream carton and dug the spoon into it.

"It's egg whites only, some tomato and so on", Angel clarified and Cordelia sighed deeply. "Fine", she relented and sat to the table, sighing dramatically.

"There is other people in this building, you know. You can't just get groiny where ever you like, people can get seriously traumatized", she continued waving her hands as she spoke but she stopped as she saw what Buffy was eating. "You're having ice cream for breakfast?!" she stated incredulously.

"So? I wanted ice cream and I couldn't wait for our master chef to finish making those eggs", she explained herself frowning, why were everyone making such a big deal from the fact that she was eating ice cream. She hopped down from the counter and placed the carton back to the freezer before turning to Angel with a smirk on her face.

"I got a letter from your worst competition the other day", she said and he turned to look at her, taking a minute to realize what she was talking about. But Cordelia didn't have any idea and she was going to find out.

"What are you talking about? Who?" she asked, dying for some great gossip. "A guy I met in New York, he made Angel all growly", Buffy smiled and Cordelia turned to look at Angel with raised eyebrows, he shifted nervously on the balls of his feet, feeling the eyes on his back.

"Angel was jealous of a eight years old boy, he all but stuck his tongue at him", Buffy continued and Angel hung his head, he was really hoping she wouldn't reveal that to Cordelia. "No way!" shrieked Cordelia and turned to look at him while giggling like a school girl.

"Liam asked me if I dumped you already and when was I moving back to New York", Buffy told about the letter and Angel turned sharply to look at her, feeling the irrational jealousy coming back and making Buffy giggle at the sight.

"You're cute when you're jealous but really, try to remember he's eight", she chastised him with a smile. He wanted to roll his eyes but found a way to get out of the conversation when Wesley called from the other room. He left the kitchen and the two women burst into laughter.

"I think we should go see what Wes has to say", Buffy said and got up but all went black and she staggered, grabbing a hold of the table to not to fall down. "Buffy?" Cordelia asked, concern showing in her voice.

"Just a little woozy", Buffy explained after her vision came back and tried to give a comforting smile to ease Cordelia's concern. "I'm going to get Angel", she said but Buffy grabbed a hold of her arm, stopping her from leaving.

"No don't. It's nothing and he would get concerned for nothing. Really, I just got up too quickly", she said to Cordelia trying to look as sincere as she could. Cordelia gave a dramatic sigh and shrugged.

"Fine. But I'm not taking the blame when he finds out on his own that you 'get up too quickly'", she said and gave Buffy a half glare before leaving the room.

.

Wesley explained about the new case, some group of demons was killing college girls and apparently kidnapped three of them, Wesley believed they were still alive but held in some cave since the demons had a pattern on hiding in the caves. Cordelia stayed at the hotel while the others went to search for the cave the girls were held. They had taken two cars since it was unlikely seven people would fit into Angels convertible, the plan was to kill the demons and Gunn to take the girls to a hospital.

"They're near", Angel stated sniffing the air. "I'm not even going to ask how you know that", Buffy whispered to him.

"Vampire", he reminded her. "I can hear the demons talking", he added and Buffy frowned. "Why can't I hear anything?" she asked him, nearly pouting. "Because their voices are so high pitched that you can't hear them, it's like a dog whistle", he explained, smiling at her pout. Gunn rolled his eyes at the couple, they couldn't go serious even when they were hunting.

Everyone went quiet when one of the demons walked past them behind the trees. Buffy and Angel started following the demon till he disappeared into one of the caves. "I'm guessing the prize is in the cave number one", Buffy said as they sneaked into the cave.

They stayed behind some rocks to observe the group, to count how many was against them and how to get the three girls out as soon as possible. But the plan was interrupted when Buffy felt lightheaded and grabbed a hold of the rocks to keep her balance, one of the rocks rolled down to the ground and the five demons turned to look at the intruders. Angel looked at Buffy in concern but she wouldn't let him say anything when she attacked the demons, others following.

She kicked the first demon attacking her, throwing it to the ground and elbowed the other coming from behind her. She ducked a swing coming at her way and spinning around, she cut one of the chains holding the girls. Without being told, Wesley went to the girls and with Gunns help, they helped them out of the cave. But one of the demons stalked after them, grabbing Wesley by the shoulder and throwing him against the cave wall. The girls cowered behind Gunn as he tried to shield them and keep the demon away with his axe but it was little use against the burly demon.

Buffy kicked another demon to the ground and saw Gunn and the girls from the corner of her eye. She threw her battle axe at the demon, the axe burying nearly completely inside the demon and it fell dead to the ground. But now she was without a weapon and she tried to duck the punches coming at her from the two demons that were after him.

Angel saw her being backed into a corner and growling in anger, he punched one of the demons, sending him flying to the wall and decapitated the other before running to help Buffy. He grabbed the other demon by the neck and slammed him head first into the wall. Buffy kicked a round house kick at the other, making it stagger back, close enough for Angel to cut its head off.

"Buffy", he started but didn't get to finish when he saw her stagger and start to fall to the ground.

"Buffy!" he yelled in alarm and hurried to her, scooping her into his arms before she hit the ground. Wesley was slowly getting up from the ground, groaning at the pain in his head as he saw that Angel was carrying Buffy, who seemed to be unconscious.

"Is she hurt?" he asked concerned. "I don't know. I don't smell any of her blood", he answered, not even looking at the watcher. He carried Buffy to the car, Wesley trailing behind him and as he laid her gently to the backseat, she started stirring. She opened her eyes, staring into the concerned eyes of her lover.

"What happened?" she asked as she noticed she was in the car. "You fainted. I'm taking you to the hospital", Angel answered and Buffy started furiously shaking her head.

"No hospitals", she tried to deny but Angel would have none of it. "I know you hate hospitals but we're going. You fainted Buffy! You could have gotten seriously hurt, you've been tired lately and don't even think I didn't notice the staggering before the fight", he said his voice giving away his concern and anger.

"But..." she tried but he gave her a look that told it was the end of discussion. He went to the front seat and drove straight to the hospital.

.

Angel was pacing in the waiting room, feeling ready to kill something if he soon didn't find out what was taking so long for the doctor to check out Buffy.

"Calm down, Angel, you're making me dizzy", Cordelia said annoyed but it didn't stop Angel from walking around like a caged tiger. She huffed in irritation.

"She's the slayer, I bet there's nothing wrong with her", she tried even though she could remember what had happened earlier in the morning and it made her worry that there just might be something wrong, when had she ever been sick, other than the time when she had the flu. The doctor treating Buffy walked into the room and Angel made a straight beeline to him.

"How is she?" Angel asked anxiously but still nearly threatening the man with his dark eyes. "I'm doctor Dowd, are you a family member of miss Summers?" the doctor asked, eying at the group.

"I'm her boyfriend", Angel answered, anxious to see her, not having any patience to deal with the doctor or formalities.

"She's been asking Angel, I'm assuming it's you", the doctor said looking past Angel at Cordelia, he had decided not to like the glowering man in front of him. Cordelia only laughed and Angel turned to the doctor.

"My name is Angel", he said correcting the mistake, he could see that the doctor didn't seem to like him. Doctor Dowd glanced at Angel and nodded him to follow. They made their way to Buffy's room and as soon as they stepped through the door, Angel made his way across the room and pulled her into his arms. He pressed a soft kiss to her hair and pulled away to look at her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, still feeling worried. "I'm fine, I'm sure. The doc hasn't given the test results yet cause I didn't want to hear them without you. You know how I feel about hospitals", she said and pulled him into a quick kiss. "Besides, I missed you", she whispered to his ear giving him a small smile. She encouraged him to sit next to her on the bed but seeing him resist, she just pulled him into the bed and snuggled against his side.

"Okay, doc, what's wrong with me?" she asked, seeing the resentful expression on the doctors face and that only encouraged her to entwine her fingers with Angels. "Well, miss Summers, I wouldn't say there's anything wrong with you. The test results show that you are pregnant", doctor Dowd answered and the two looked at him like he had said something funny. First reaction came from Buffy who giggled.

"Really, that's funny. What's really wrong with me?" she asked but the smile faded from her face as she saw he was serious. "I am not joking, miss Summers. It appears you are on your first trimester of your pregnancy", he said and Buffy went pale.

"But that's not possible", she stammered, taking a stronger grip from Angels hand. She turned to look at him and he had the same expression as her, complete stunned and scared deer caught in head lights.

"I need to talk to Angel in private", she said to the doctor and nodding, he left the room. As soon as the door was closed, Buffy turned back to Angel, this time her face showing her fear.

"There has to be a mistake, I can't be pregnant. You're the only person I've been with for a year and you're a vampire, you can't have kids", she said, her fear and anxiety showing in her voice. He placed a comforting hand on her cheek, he knew she hadn't cheated on him cause he would have smelled another male on her but that made it even more confusing, since he couldn't be the father either.

"I know. Don't worry, everything is going to be okay, we'll figure this out", he assured her but it did little to comfort her. "What if it was some demon? What if I'm carrying some hell spawn inside me? I've been reading the books..." she rambled growing more panicked by the minute. He placed his hands on both sides of her face and forced her to look into his eyes.

"Buffy, love, We'll figure this out. Don't worry, we'll visit Lorne, we'll ask him what he saw when you sang to him. We'll make it through this", he said calmly and softly kissed her lips.

"I love you, Angel", she whispered and buried her face into his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around him. "I love you too. I'm not letting anything happen to you", he whispered into her ear and pressed a kiss to her hair.

.

Buffy and Angel left the hospital, not yet telling the others what had happened, not even when Cordelia was pestering them with questions. The gang went to Caritas, the others sitting in a table as Buffy and Angel searched for Lorne. Lorne turned to the couple, he was wearing a bright pastel blue suit and Buffy couldn't help but raise her eyebrow at it.

"I'm taking that you found out the news", he said and seeing the glum looks on the couple, he frowned.

"Why the sour face, pumpkin pie, I thought you two would be bursting from the happiness, isn't this what you two always wanted?" he asked puzzled.

"Well, getting pregnant at twenty and not knowing how, wasn't my idea of the happiness worth bursting for", Buffy said sarcastically. Lorne smiled warmly and placed a calming hand on her arm.

"Of course you know how it happened, you've been through high school and what I've heard, they tell about the birds and bees. And I bet you two didn't use any protection because you thought his little swimmers weren't going to knock you up. Well, let me tell you, sweetness, he's one surprising vamp", Lorne said and what he was trying to say started to dawn to the couple in front of him. He almost couldn't hold his laughter at the looks on their faces, they were both stunned but yet there was a stupid grins on both their faces. Buffy turned to Angel and for a long moment, all they could do was stare at each other.

"We're having a baby", she whispered and he could just nod dumbly before pulling her into his arms and kissing her with all the love he held for her. As they pulled apart, they were both gasping for air and Lorne was fanning himself with his hand.

"Oh boy", he sighed and the couple turned to look at him, a frown slowly rising to Angels face.

"But is the baby human?" he asked worried of the fact that it might not be. "From what I saw from this songbirds singing, I would say the baby is. There's nothing to worry about, big guy", Lorne assured him and patted him to his arm. A smile of relief rose to his lips and he turned to Buffy who's smile could brighten the whole room.

"We're having a baby", she whispered again and wrapped her around him in a tight hug, not noticing the tears of joy rising to his eyes.

.

Angel was hovering over her constantly, slowly making her crazy, finally she had enough and send him to other room. She sighed at the silence in the kitchen but it was short lived when Cordelia stalked into the room.

"Okay, missy, spill it! What happened? What the doctor say? And don't try the 'it's nothing' cause Angels been hovering over you like a mother hen. You're dying, aren't you?!" she said and gasped, making Buffy roll her eyes.

"I'm not dying, Cordelia", she said and Cordelia looked at her inspecting, placing her hands on her hips. "Then what is it? Start talking, slaygirl", she demanded. Buffy sighed deeply.

"I'm pregnant", she finally confessed and Cordelia's eyes widened in surprise. "What?! Pregnant?!" she shrieked and then looked at her angrily. "How could you do that to Angel!" she accused and Buffy jumped to her feet.

"The baby is Angel's", she defended herself. "And how is that possible, he's a vampire, dead swimmers", Cordelia retorted even though her hostility was wavering.

"I don't know how it happened but it happened. I haven't been with anyone but Angel for a year and Lorne told us that the baby is Angels", Buffy explained crossing her arms in front of her like a challenge. "Okay", Cordelia drawled and then a bright, wide smile appeared to her face.

"So, I'm happy for you, I'm gonna be aunt Cordy", she said excitedly and pulled Buffy into a hug. "I'm so gonna teach that girl some serious fashion sense", she continued practically jumping in joy. Buffy looked at her in surprise and tried to tell her: "It might be a boy." But Cordelia just shook her head.

"Not gonna happen, there's enough testosterone stench in the air here", Cordelia said back. "So, when are you going to tell scoobies and Giles? Oh, can I be there when you tell them, that should be entertaining", she changed the subject, making Buffy roll her eyes till her eyes suddenly widened in shock.

"What am I going to tell my mother!" she whispered to herself.

.

To be continued...

**A/N:** Thank you so much for all your reviews, they keep me writing. Hope you liked the surprise, there's few more coming along the way.


	4. Big news

Chapter 4: Big news

"How am I going to tell this to everyone? Giles will be so disappointed. And my mother will kill me!" she panicked and Angel pulled her into his arms, rubbing her back soothingly.

"Everything will be alright", he assured her and pressed a soft kiss to her head. "Is it? We've known for two weeks and I haven't had the guts to tell anyone, except Cordelia, and you to Wes and Gunn. What does that tell you?"

"That you are just nervous, it is your friends that we are talking about and Giles is like a father to you, it is only normal", Angel reassured her.

"Yeah, mom is going to be so proud of me, her little girl pregnant at 20", she said sarcastically and groaned. "Your mother loves you, I'm sure she will understand and accept it." Buffy turned to look at him with a small smile. She raised her hand to his cheek and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

"Yeah, but it may take a while. I know she loves me but she has hard time accepting that I'm slayer, she doesn't understand what comes with it and sometimes I think she doesn't want to", she said with a soft voice and pressed a finger to his lips as he was about to protest. "I'm not blaming her and in some level I understand it but she needs to accept that I'm never going to be the perfect, normal daughter she always wanted and on some levels had for the first 15 years."

Cordelia burst through the door and frown after one look at the couple. "Okay, you two, stop the brooding", she commanded and turned to Buffy. "This little girl is going have some serious brooding genes from the father's side so it's your job to make it not happen by not brooding yourself."

"Girl?" Angel questioned and turned to look at Buffy, was there something she hadn't told him. "Cordy is convinced the baby is a girl", she explained with a smile.

"Okay, brighten up, you have the doctors appointment in two hours and then we have to go shopping since your returning to Sunnyhell tomorrow", Cordelia continued without paying attention to what the couple was saying.

"I'm so not going shopping with you, last time I did that, I was having a diet against my will", Buffy said sternly but Cordelia didn't seem to listen, she just waved her hand dismissively. "But the baby is going to need clothes", she protested, making Buffy chuckle.

"The baby isn't going to be born in seven months", she said back but Cordelia didn't seem to care what she was saying. She took a cup from the cabinet and sat to the table.

"I thought you were supposed to be puking every morning but you don't seem to have that problem", Cordelia said and looked pointedly at the empty plate in front of Buffy. Buffy blushed and looked away in embarrassment.

"Yeah well, I'm constantly craving for ice cream but I'm not complaining, although it would be nice not to wake up in the middle of the night and want to eat a carton of ice cream." "Yeah, that stuff goes straight to your thighs", Cordelia said and Buffy immediately looked down at her legs frowning. Angel chuckled and pulled Buffy into his arms.

"Don't worry, I'm happy to help with the exercise", he whispered to her ear and pressed a small kiss to the side of her lips. "Hey! A person present! What did I tell you about making out in front of people?" Cordelia said loudly, making the couple laugh and turn to her.

"I promise we'll keep it under PG", Buffy smirked. "Yeah, what ever", Cordelia said dismissively and waving her hand she got up. "Well, I'm going somewhere where it safe to open my eyes", she added and walked out the room.

"We're not that bad", Buffy said with a pout. "I'm sure we're not", Angel added and rained kisses down her neck, paying extra attention to his mark. She moaned softly and threaded her fingers in his hair before shifting in her chair and climbing into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her more tightly and claimed her lips hungrily. After a long passionate kiss, she pushed him back, trying to steady her breathing and get a grip of the last shred of self control she had.

"We can't do this here, not now", she whispered breathlessly and pressed a kiss to the side of his mouth before getting up to her feet. "I know", he said back and wrapped his arms around her waist, keeping her in place as he pressed his face against her belly. He listened carefully before pulling back, lifting her shirt up her stomach and pressing his ear against the bare skin. Buffy giggled and threaded her fingers in his hair, pressing a soft kiss to the top of his head.

"I can hear the heartbeat", he whispered, his voice full of wonder and he turned to look up to her, his eyes showing the same amazement bringing a bright smile to her lips. "Yeah, the vamp hearing and all, I have to wait for two hours", she said, her voice only a whispered. Angel got up and pulled her into his arms, kissing her lips tenderly.

"I never thought I could have this - have a child... with you. It's a miracle", he said gently stroking her cheek with his thumb. "It's our miracle", she whispered. She closed her eyes, a single tear escaping and rolling down her cheek before he brushed it off. She opened her eyes and looked at him nearly pleadingly.

"We'll keep our child safe, right? I know every demon and other things will be after him... or her, but we will keep it safe?" she questioned her voice revealing her fears.

"Yes, this is our miracle and I'm not letting anything bad happen", he assured her, not letting her know of his own fears that were just beneath the surface.

"That is why I never did consider having children, it wasn't that I don't want them, but I'm the slayer, look how many times the bad guys have gone after my mother, just think about how it would be with my own child. But we can protect it, right?" she continued getting more anxious.

"Yes, we're both strong, we're not going to let anything bad happen, calm down, there's nothing to worry about", he whispered to her ear and placed a quick kiss to her cheek.

.

Buffy and Angel were snuggled into each other in their room, laying on top of the bedspread and looking at the small picture from the ultrasound.

"It's so small", she said with a small smile playing on her lips. "It will grow", he assured her and gently rubbed her belly with his hand.

"I can't wait to see our child grow inside you", he whispered to her ear and pressed a kiss to her neck on top of his mark. "Don't even talk about it, I'm going to be big as a house, that's one thing I'm not looking forward to", she said with a pout and made Angel laugh.

"Well, I can't wait. See your belly swell with my child, see a life growing inside you." "You may have to take those words back before the nine months is up", she said smirking after seeing that he was completely honest, with excitement gleaming in his eyes.

"I highly doubt it", he answered and pulled her into a gentle, unhurried kiss, full of love. He pulled her closer to his body and wrapped his arms around her protectively, placing his hands on her stomach and rubbing it soothingly.

"Why don't you sleep, it has been a long day", he suggested but she shook her head. "I should still go slaying", she protested and Angel turned sharply at her.

"Not gonna happen, no slaying for you for seven months", he said sternly but she sat up and turned to look at him just as decidedly. "Angel, I'm the slayer, I can't just stop slaying for seven months", she said and he also got up, grabbing her arms.

"It is dangerous for the baby, I'm not going to let you risk it", he said and Buffy's face grumbled, she hadn't thought that she might hurt the baby, she was terrible mother already and the baby hadn't even been born yet.

"I'm sorry", she whispered and placed her hands on her stomach, almost like apologizing to the unborn child. Angel wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his arms, placing a comforting kiss to the top of her head. "It's okay", he whispered but she shook her head.

"What are we going to do, Hellmouth can't be without a slayer and I can't patrol with the fear of hurting our baby. Maybe Willow could do a protection spell?" she finally asked hopefully but Angel shook his head.

"No, it's still dangerous, what if I patrol in Sunnydale?" But this time it was Buffy who shook her head. "That's not likely option either, you have your hands full here already." There was a long silence, both of them thinking through the options till Angel finally found the answer.

"Faith", he said simply and Buffy groaned out loud. "She's never going to let me live this down", she said with another groan.

.

Buffy was making her way to the car after the usual goodbyes with the gang. "Man, I still can't believe the big guy knocked you up", Gunn said once again in amazement, shaking his head. "You said that already", Buffy smirked, Gunn's bewilderment of her pregnancy was just too amusing for her.

"I've got a whole new respect for you, man", he said and slapped Angel in the back. Cordelia just rolled her eyes and turned to Buffy. "Remember to call me, okay?" she reminded and Buffy nodded. "Of course", she promised.

"I still don't get why you don't let me drive to Sunnydale, I had to get the car and now I can't drive it", Buffy huffed at Angel who just gave her a crooked smile. "I didn't know you were pregnant then", he answered and closed the trunk before making his way to open the door to her.

"Fine, I'll humor you. But being pregnant doesn't prevent from driving a car, you know. Next time, I'm driving back here, the only reason I'm letting you do this now, is cause I need you as the backup when I confront the gang... and my mother", she said stubbornly and sat to the car. "What ever you say, sweetheart", he responded and placed quick kiss to her lips before closing the door and making his way to the drivers seat. He loved Buffy when she had the stubborn look on her face, okay, he loved her what ever face she had but to him, she was adorable when she was pouting with the determinate look in her face. Buffy looked at him as he pulled out of the drive way, he didn't argue with her and that made her suspicious.

"Just because I called Faith to come to Sunnydale, doesn't mean that I'm going to relent to every idea you have, I've got the car and I'm driving it too. I promise I'll let you play driving miss Daisy when I'm too big to sit behind the wheel", she said and Angel turned to look at her in question. "It's a movie with Morgan Freeman", she explained and smiled, he was adorable with the lack of pop culture knowledge.

Two hours later Angel puller over the car in front of Buffy's apartment building. He turned to look at her and couldn't stop the smile from coming as he saw her sleeping peacefully. As quietly as he could, he got off the car, walked around it to the other side and gently lifted her into his arms. She stirred, just snuggled closer to his chest and sighed contently not waking. He pressed a soft kiss to the crown of her head and carried her inside the building. He tried desperately not to wake her as he struggled to get the keys from her jacket pocket.

"Can I help you?" came a stern voice from behind him and he spun around to see a woman in her 60s standing behind him looking like a angry mother-in-law.

"No thank you, just trying to get the keys", Angel answered with soft voice so he wouldn't wake up the woman in his arms. The lady looked at him suspiciously, measuring him with her eyes and Angel was getting uncomfortable under her firm gaze.

"I believe I have seen you here before", she stated. "Well, I'm her boyfriend, I live in LA", Angel said shifting on his feet. The womans face hardened.

"No, you are not. I've met the young man she is currently seeing and don't take this the wrong way but you are older than him", the woman said knowingly. "You mean Xander?" Angel asked feeling the jealousy bubbling inside him but didn't let it show in his voice.

"Not the klutz. I am talking about the polite young man, Mr Finn I believe was the name, such a gentleman, always bringing flowers." Angel had to suppress a growl from escaping, he could have dealt with the mistake of thinking Xander as her boyfriend but the thought of Riley sniffing around was making him ready to kill something.

"Riley Finn?" he asked with a low voice that made Buffy stir and finally open her eyes. She stared up at Angel and noticed he didn't look happy. "Hey", she whispered and pressed a soft kiss to his neck before she noticed her neighbor standing on the hallway. "Umm... hello Mrs Hopper", she said slightly embarrassed since she was in the arms of her boyfriend in front of her elderly neighbor.

"Good evening miss Summers, I was just requiring what this young man was doing trying to get into your apartment with you unconscious in his arms." Buffy blushed and turned to Angel. "You can let me down now", she whispered and reluctantly Angel let her down back to her feet.

"Miss Hopper, this is Angel, Angel, this is my neighbor Mrs Hopper", she introduced them and turned back to her neighbor. "And I wasn't unconscious, I fell asleep in the car. Angel is my boyfriend", she explained not missing the look of disdain that crossed Mrs Hopper's face. Mrs Hopper eyed at the couple and finally turned to Buffy.

"I can't believe you would abandon such a nice man as Mr Finn, for a...", she glanced at Angel, trying to find a suiting word to describe him. "...a pretty face." Buffy's defenses got up and she crossed her arms in front of her as a shield, sending a firm look to her neighbor.

"What are you talking about? Riley and I haven't been together for a year. Come to think of it, how do you even know about Riley, I didn't live here back then?" she asked suspiciously, being a slayer had thought her to be rather paranoid than sorry later.

"I don't understand, Riley and I have talked quite a bit, nearly every time he has visited you", her neighbor answered little surprised by the question and where it was going.

"Riley's been in my apartment", Buffy said quietly as the realization hit her. Angel wrapped her arm around her and gave her hand a tight reassuring squeeze. "Thank you, Mrs Hopper", she said and quickly opened the door to her apartment and stepped inside with Angel without explaining to her neighbor. As soon as the door was closed, she turned to Angel looking frantic.

"He's been in my apartment", she whispered, shaken, she had rarely felt so unprotected and Riley visiting her apartment without her knowing brought bad memories of Angelus' visits back to her mind. "It's going to be okay", he assured her pulling her into his arms and rubbing her back soothingly, even though he himself was feeling anything but, he had a screaming urge to find Finn and teach him a lesson, possibly one that would rive him from having children.

"I need to call Willow, she has to know some spell that protects against unwanted visitors with a pulse or something", she said and pulled away from Angel to get to the phone. "Are you going to be okay, if I get our bags?" he asked and she nodded with a small smile.

"Yeah, I only wish he would come in right now and I could teach him a lesson, one that would make him walk funny", she answered with a smirk and a image of her teaching Finn that lesson, flashed through his mind, almost making him smile. "Okay, I'll be right back", he answered and walked out the door, making sure it was closed securely after him. Buffy watched as the door closed and brought her concentration back to the phone she was holding. It didn't take long for a sleepy Willow to answer the phone. Buffy glanced at the clock and she couldn't help but wonder why Willow was sleeping so early.

"Hey, it's me. I need you and your witchy knowledge. Could you please come to my apartment?" she said to the phone and the tone of her voice got Willow concerned. "What happened?" she asked and Buffy could almost see the worried frown on her face.

"Riley's been in my apartment, when I'm not here. Many times. Do you know any spell that would keep unwanted visitors with a pulse from getting in?" Buffy answered and turned as she heard a knock on the door. She went to the door, glancing through the peephole and opening the door to let Angel in.

"I'm not sure, I'll ask Giles if he knows any", Willow said to the phone and Buffy nodded absently. "Okay, I'll see you when you get here", she said and after a quick confirmation and a goodbye, she hung up.

"Willow and Giles are coming here, and I'm suspecting Tara will also be coming since these days Willow goes nowhere without her", Buffy told Angel and sat to the couch with a sigh. Angel sat next to her and pulled her into his arms, pressing a soft kiss to her hair.

"It's okay", he whispered to her ear and she gave him a bland smile. "I know Riley has nothing on me, I could take him out without breaking a sweat. But he's human, and he broke into my apartment, God knows how many times without me even suspecting anything. It just makes me feel... violated, and vulnerable", she said and leaned against his shoulder, taking his hand into hers.

"And it reminds you of what Angelus made you feel", he added and solemnly she nodded before turning to him and grabbing a hold of his chin.

"No brooding about it, it's in the past, you're not Angelus, we've been through all this. I love you and he's not going to roam free, that's that", she said sternly and placed a soft kiss to his lips before he could protest.

.

Two hours later Giles and Willow had made a spell that no one uninvited person could step into the apartment, and with them, Tara, Xander and Anya were present. Buffy glanced at Angel, wringing her fingers nervously, everyone was there so she could tell them about th pregnancy and not stretch it until tomorrow.

"Umm... Guys, I have something to tell you", she said and turned to Angel for help. He cave her a reassuring smile and took a hold of her hand, giving it a small squeeze. Everyone turned to look at them, even Xander abandoned the fridge and made his way to the living room.

"What is it, Buffy?" Giles asked fatherly while Willow looked at her in concern seeing how she was fidgeting. "Umm... You guys better sit down", she said and started pacing the floor, sending nervous looks to her friends and reassurance from Angel. Finally she stopped and took a hold of Angel hand before turning to the expecting audience.

She took a deep breathe and blurted: "I'm pregnant." There was a long silence till it was broken by Xander. "You're what!?" he yelped loudly. Angel send him a angry look but didn't say anything, just gave Buffy a comforting squeeze.

"I'm pregnant and Angel is the father", she continued, silence falling again as the group looked at them dumbfounded.

"But Buffy, you and Angel must know that vampire's can not conceive a child. A vampire is practically a dead body and so is his... semen", Giles said awkwardly, Buffy was like a daughter to him and imagining her having sex with anyone was just strange to him.

"Yes, that's why I used to prefer them from the other demons, no need to worry about getting knocked up", Anya said and everyone turned to look at her. "What?! I said 'used to', I find Xander very satisfying and the modern medical substances very useful", she said not understanding what the big deal was and again, she caused Xander blush in embarrassment.

"Moving on... I don't know how it happened but it did and the child is Angel's. We already visited a guy that reads destiny's and all that and he told us that the child is Angel's", Buffy explained. After the first shock was over, Giles removed his glasses starting to clean them and he turned to the couple.

"I have never heard of such a thing happening. Are you sure the child is..." he started not knowing how to finish without hurting anyone. "The baby is human", Angel said to him and everyone could see the relief on his face.

Willow who had sat thunderstruck, started to understand what she had been talking about and a bright smile lit her face. She jumped up from the couch and pulled Buffy into a tight hug.

"I'm so happy for you! Are you happy?" she said and Buffy gave her a teary eyed nod. "I'm gonna be aunt Willow", she declared proudly, making Buffy laugh.

"Umm... Yes, I presume a congratulations is in order", Giles said getting up and making his way to the couple. He gave a very male handshake to Angel, before turning to Buffy with a small fatherly smile.

"Congratulations, Buffy", he said and she gave him a teary 'thank you' before pulling him into a tight hug. It meant to her more than she could say that he accepted the news and didn't give her a hard time.

"Although I do believe, you are still too young, I can't condemn you, this truly is a miracle but no matter what, it will take some time to get used to", Giles said to her, leaving out that he was going to go through his books as soon as he got home, there was no way that a child of a vampire slayer, fathered by a vampire such as Angel would not be in any prophecy but he wasn't going to cause any harm to their happiness before he knew more.

Xander was standing in the background, glaring at Angel but not saying anything, he had just gotten his relationship with Buffy the way it used to be and he wasn't going to let the vampire destroy it. Gingerly he went to the others and pulled Buffy into a hug.

"I'm happy for you, Buff", he said and hoped the lie wasn't visible, if someone noticed that he didn't mean it, they didn't say anything. "Thanks, Xander", Buffy said even though she could hear the lie in his words, he was making an effort and it was enough for now. Now all she had to worry about was telling her mother, and she had a feeling it wasn't going to be as pretty.

.

Buffy made her way to her mothers house, she had convinced Angel to stay back at her place, to wait for her. She had a feeling that it would be better that she told her mother without Angel, knowing that he wasn't her favorite person. Angel had his own suspicion that Buffy was better off dealing with Joyce on her own but he still wanted to be there to support her. Buffy was sitting in the living room, nervously sipping her cup of tea and glancing at her mother from time to time.

"Honey, something is bothering you", Joyce stated with a soft tone and looked at Buffy expectantly. Buffy put down the tea cup and turned to look at her mother, getting more anxious by the second but there was no way out of it, she needed to tell her and she had already told her substitute family so it was only fair.

"Mom..." she started but didn't know how to continue and she got up from the couch, pacing for few moments before turning to Joyce, opening her mouth to continue but then ending up closing it again.

"I know you're going to be disappointed in me and all that but I'm going to say it", she said dreading what was going to come and she finally just got the words out. "I'm pregnant", she said so quickly she wasn't sure it made any sense.

"Come again", Joyce said trying to keep calm. "I'm pregnant", she repeated, this time more slowly. "That's what I thought you said", Joyce said with a sigh and rubbed her forehead with her fingertips.

"Are you completely disappointed in me?" Buffy asked like a little girl who didn't know if she had done something bad. Joyce turned to look at her and her eyes betrayed her feelings.

"I'm not going to lie to you, you're only 20 years old, this isn't something I was expecting for some years, not until you were married and many years older, ready to have a family of your own", Joyce said sighing again but suddenly her glum mood seemed to brighten.

"You found someone new? Did you make things right with Riley?" she asked hopefully and all Buffy could do was look at her in shock.

"Mom, the baby is Angels", she interrupted her mothers musings and the scowl was back to her mothers face. "But you yourself said that vampires can't have children", she said hopefully and confused at the same time.

"They don't, they aren't supposed to, it has never happened before. But now it has, I'm having Angel's child, it's a miracle I never thought would happen. Please, mom, be happy for me", she said and added the last nearly in tears. Joyce sighed deeply, hanging her head before getting up from the chair and pouring herself a full glass of brandy.

"Buffy, you're still young, do you understand that a child with that... man is going to keep you tied to him for eighteen years. I have never accepted him in your life, he has done nothing but hurt you and now he has got you pregnant." Buffy's face grumbled, this was harder than she had imagined and she could feel the tears threatening to fall.

"I love him, mom. Why do you hate him so much? I don't understand what he's done to you? He has saved my life more times than I can count and he loves me for what I am, with all my faults. I don't understand why can't you accept him? You know I love him more than life itself and it has nothing to do with my age. He can't loose his soul anymore and apparently he can give me a child, I don't care if he can't take me into the sunlight cause most of my time I spend in the darkness, so what excuse is there left?" She let the tears fall, even though they were already in her voice. She quickly wiped them off her cheeks and looked at her mother almost with anger.

"He is a vampire", Joyce answered with a hard voice. "And I don't care", Buffy shot back.

"I know how many times you cried yourself to sleep because of him, how he robbed you of your innocence, how he tormented for all those months. One day you are going to wake up and find that you have lost all your life because you didn't let go of him. He is going to do nothing but hurt you", Joyce said not wavering from her opinion, she wanted to give her an ultimatum to leave that man but she knew all too well how that would turn out, now that she was pregnant, it would end even worse than last time.

"He isn't going to hurt me and you better start accepting that he will always be a big part of my life because I want my child to know her or his grandmother", Buffy gave the ultimatum to Joyce's shock.

.

Buffy made her way back to her apartment, she was emotionally drained but happy that things had somehow worked out with her mother. She had promised to stand Angel but she made it perfectly clear that she wasn't happy about it but Buffy figured that would change as soon as the baby was born.

She stepped inside her apartment and saw Angel sitting with Faith, both holding coffee cups. "Yo B, Angie here is all cryptic with what you have to tell me", Faith said while getting up.

"Hey, Faith. You better sit down for this one", Buffy said and Faith looked at her suspiciously but still sat down.

"Here it comes, I'm pregnant and before you say anything, Angel is the father and we both know that vamps can't have little vamps but somehow it happened", Buffy said all in one long thread and looked at Faith expectantly. For once, Faith was without words.

"So the big guy knocked you up", she finally said then a smirk rose to her lips. "So does that make me a auntie Faith?" A smile rose to Buffy's face, the first one in the last couple of hours. "I guess it does."

"Wow, you have quite the little swimmers there, big guy, couple hundred years as a vamp and you still manage to put the bun in the oven. Wow", Faith said to Angel, patting his shoulder with a wide smirk on her lips.

"And because I'm out of the game for seven months, we're asking if you could watch the Hellmouth till the baby is born?" Buffy asked somewhat nervously.

"Sure thing, I've been missing some real action, you'd never believe how boring the bad guys are at New York, most of them are human so that's a big let down. But you're going to make me the babes godmother for this", she said, her smirk not leaving its place.

"Yeah, that's a deal. You need a place to crash?" Buffy answered, hoping she'd say she's got a place but she knew better.

"When don't I. But you two better keep it down in the bedroom", she said and then a wicked smile rose to her lips and her eyes lit with a mischievous twinkle. "Unless you want me to join in", she added and earned a half-playful slap from Buffy.

"Get your mind out of the gutter", she chastised blushing bright red. "I'm sorry, mom", Faith smirked and jumped to the couch, taking a relaxed pose. Buffy couldn't help but roll her eyes.

.

To be continued...


	5. Driving around

**A/N:** I know I say this a lot but THANK YOU for all the reviews, they really are much appreciated. I have been struggling with a bit of a writers block but I'm back on track. This chapter is full of fluff so be warned. And about the car bits, I really know VERY little about how cars function since I don't even own one, so please look through your fingers if there's something not right about the car scene.

.

Chapter 5: Driving around

Buffy was on her way back to LA after a weekend visit to see her friends and mother. She turned the music a little louder on the radio and glanced at the clock. It would take at least an hour to get to the hotel and the thought made her sigh heavily, being separated from Angel for two days was agony, she could feel all the emotions more strongly but now she could blame the hormones for it.

She was pulled out of her thoughts as the car started to twitch and slow down. Groaning out loud she pulled over and turned off the engine. She climbed out of the car and glanced around herself, she was in the middle of nowhere but she could figure out by the time she had been driving that there was a motel about three miles down the road. She opened the hood and jumped back as the hot steam shot up.

"Just my luck", she said and pulled out her cellphone, dialing the number she knew by heart. But the phone just let out a warning sound and went dark. "Just great! This can't be happening", she muttered to herself and threw the useless piece of technology to the front seat. Again she looked at the dark road, guess it was time for a nice evening stroll. She grabbed her jacket and her bag from the car but before she could start walking, a pickup truck pulled over next to her car. A man, probably in his early thirties, stepped out of the car and approached Buffy.

"Having trouble with your car, miss?" the man asked with a slight southern drawl in his voice. "Yeah, you could say that", Buffy answered looking at the man suspiciously, he seemed harmless, he was wearing faded jeans and a plain flannel shirt, and though she was with Angel, she didn't deny he was good looking.

"Mind if I look?" he asked and signed towards the car. "Knock yourself out", Buffy answered and shrugged like she didn't care but truthfully she was watching his every move as discreetly as possible, he looked familiar but she couldn't tell if she had actually met him before. The man rolled his sleeves up and went to look inside the car. After a while of groping it, he straightened up and turned to Buffy.

"It seems your water pump is leaking and caused it to overheat, also you could use a oil change. But this car is in great condition considering its age", he told her "That's what I've been told, I just drive it."

"I'm Christian, by the way", he introduced himself and offered his hand. After a moments hesitation, she took it. "I'm Buffy", she answered and shook his hand.

"It seems that your car isn't going anywhere right now but I am on my way to Los Angeles, if you need a lift", he offered trying not to sound too forward. Buffy shifted on her feet and glanced at both ways of the dark road before making her decision. "Thanks, I'm headed to LA too, if it's not too much trouble." She took another scrutinizing look at him, sure he was muscular and taller than her, not as tall as Angel but she could take him if he tried anything, but she doubted it since he had that whole southern gentleman thing going on.

"Great", he said with a charming smile and led her to his car, opening the passenger side door for her. 'Obviously Angel isn't the only one that didn't get the memo that chivalry is dead', Buffy thought to herself as she climbed to the car.

"You're traveling light", Christian stated and Buffy could hear the unspoken 'for a girl'. "I was just visiting for the weekend", she explained, dropping the bag to her feet. Christian nodded in understanding and closed the door before making his way to the drivers seat. He started the car and pulled back to the road.

"So how was your weekend?" he started the conversation, neither of them noticed the black SUV without headlights, following the car. Riley gripped hard the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white at the pressure. He kept his eyes fixed on the car in front of him, staying close enough to see it but just far enough not to be seen himself.

.

Buffy and Christian had already arrived inside the city limits and and they had been talking the whole trip, just the usual conversation, nothing that would set off the alarm bells in Buffy's head. There was the first short silence during the whole trip but Christian's voice broke it.

"So, is there a man in your life? Or a woman?", he asked and glanced at her hands that were resting in her lap, no ring. "I have a boyfriend", she answered, no need to tell that she was pregnant too, even though she liked Christian, she didn't know him.

"Just my luck, I meet a great girl and she has a boyfriend. You wouldn't happen to have a sister, would you?" he said dramatically and flashed her a charmer smile. "Sorry, I'm the only child."

"Just my luck. But then again, I've got too much going on in my life right now to think about dating. My job for one thing, it keeps me busy", he said with a shrug. "What kind of a job you've got?" Buffy asked turning to look at him, he had talked about a lot of things, music, his family and all that but not a word about what he does for a living.

"Do you want me to drop you off to your apartment or where?" Christian asked and Buffy forgot about her question, realizing that she was on a familiar area, not all that far from Hyperion.

"Oh, you can drop me off to the next bus stop", she answered. "Are you sure?" he asked with a tinge of concern lacing his voice. Buffy gave him a comforting smile. "I'm sure. I really appreciate the ride."

"No problem, it was nice to have some company", he assured her and pulled over to the bus stop. Buffy grabbed her bag from the floor and turned to look at him, his blue eyes were watching her intently and again she was bothered with the feeling she had seen him before.

"Well, thanks for helping me and for the ride", she said. "Like I said, no problem. It was pleasure to meet you, Buffy", he said and offered his hand which she took. "You too, Christian. I better be going", she answered and let go of his hand, turning to the door.

"Good bye, Buffy. Take care of yourself." "You too. Bye." She closed the door behind her and headed towards the pay phone that was in the corner of the bus station, she glanced behind her as she heard the car pull off. She called back to Hyperion and gave the brief explanation of what had happened before waiting for Angel to pick her up. It didn't take long as she had guessed, ever since Angel had found out about the baby, he was constantly worrying and being a mother hen, so the thought of the mother of his child on the streets of Los Angeles at night made him drive like a mad man.

As soon as the car stopped by the side of the road, Angel jumped out of it and made his way to Buffy. "Are you okay?" he asked and pulled her into a hug, placing a soft kiss next to her ear.

"Angel, calm down. I'm alright, WE are alright. There was just hole in the water pump and the car got overheated, nothing major. I got a lift from a guy that stopped to help and here I am, in one piece... Or is it two pieces since I'm pregnant?" she assured her with a small smile. She placed her hand on his cheek and forced him to look her in the eyes and calm down. He took a deep breathe of air he didn't technically need but right now it felt like it.

"What guy?" he asked with a frown and her face broke into a smile. "Christian, he stopped to help me with the car and offered me a ride here since he too was on his way to LA", she explained and seeing the look on his face, that he was about to say something, she continued.

"And before you remind me of the dangers of hitchhiking, I've seen the movie and heard all the warnings, but I'm a slayer, I may be pregnant but I still could have taken him out in a fight. My phone's battery died and it was either walk three miles in the dark to a motel or take a ride with him. And he was a nice guy, he didn't try anything. So there's no need to worry."

"I'm just glad you're okay. Let's go home, we'll get Gunn pick up the car tomorrow", he said giving her a quick kiss before leading her to the car and opening the door for her.

.

Buffy knocked on the garage door and stepped in. She couldn't help but laugh at the sight that greeted her, Angel and Gunn, both men covered in oily smudges and grime from the car from trying to prepare her car. Wesley and Gunn had picked up the car earlier on the day, the hole in the water pump wasn't all that big so Gunn managed to drive the car back to the hotel by adding more water.

"So how's it going boys?" she asked with a smirk and giggled as Angel turned to look at her, showing his face, covered in black smudges.

"Well, we got you a new water pump and Angel here changed the oil. You know he was around when the first car was invented", Gunn told her, both ignoring the halfhearted glare Angel was giving them. "Yeah and he hasn't touched a car younger than thirty years", she smirked sending a teasing glance at Angel who just gave her a look that she would pay later.

"There's coffee in the kitchen, and don't worry, it's fresh, not from last weeks grinds", Buffy directed to Gunn who gave her a appreciative smile and clapped his hands together. "That's my kind of a girl, if you decide to dump broody here, let me know", he joked causing Angel to growl deep in his chest. Gunn glanced at Angel before deciding it was best to go and have that coffee.

"So, is she ridable?" she asked approaching him, grabbing a piece of cloth and wiping the extra dirt from his face. Angel gave her a short laugh and nodded. "Yeah, a new water pump and I checked everything else, it should be running smoothly", he answered and she couldn't help but grin at his confession of going through the car to make sure it was safe. But what he didn't tell her was that it seemed like the hole in the water pump wasn't from rust or didn't seem like something that would have been caused by driving, but he didn't want to worry her or cause any stress, so he made Gunn not to tell her if she didn't ask about it.

He bend down for a kiss but remembering his still dirty face, he pulled back, noticing the surprised look on her face. "What? Do I have bad breath or something?" she asked confused. "No, but I'm covered in grime, I need to change and shower", he answered with a reassuring smile.

"Well, then we better get you cleaned up", she said smirking and walked to the door and giving him a suggestive look and a wink over her shoulder. Angel swallowed audibly.

.

Angels head rested on Buffy's stomach, his ear was pressed against her skin and a wide goofy smile played on his lips. Buffy played with his still damp hair and a content smile was gracing her face, she hadn't seen him like that before and she wanted to savor the moment.

"That's beautiful", he whispered softly and pressed a tender kiss on her belly. She was starting to show, there was a slight curve on her stomach but it wasn't noticeable yet if you didn't know to look.

"What is?" she asked, her voice just as soft as his. "His heartbeat, or hers", he answered and turned to look up at her, his hand sprawling over the small bump as if to protect the life inside her. She didn't know what to say, the look on his face was so much that she could feel the tears threatening to surface but she forced herself to smile and cup his cheek pulling him up her body into a kiss.

"It's so unbelievable, that we are going to have a child, I know we have known about it for some time but to actually hear the heartbeat, it makes it all so much more real", he said still at awe of the sound he had heard so many times before. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to his body.

"I know. This is something I have been dreaming for so long and never thought it would happen", she whispered and turned to look at him, straight into his eyes. An involuntary smile rose to her lips and tears sprang to her eyes as she looked at him. "But it is happening", she added, her voice breaking from the emotion. He raised his hand and wiped the tears from her cheeks, placing a soft kiss to her forehead and pulling her even more closer to him.

"Don't cry", he said soothingly but she shook her head, her smile not faltering. "Happy tears", she assured him. For a moment he searched her eyes and found that she truly wasn't sad and he let a smile rise to his lips also before leaning down and claiming hers with a gentle kiss full of love.

.

Buffy and Angel were sitting in his office as there was a knock on the door and few seconds later Cordelia walked in. "Hey, we have only two hours, chop chop", she commanded Buffy and Angel looked at the two women in question.

"For what?" he asked and Cordelia gave him a irritated look. "Before the store closes", she said like it was obvious. "I told you about this, we're going to get that crib we were talking about", Buffy reminded him more softly than Cordelia did.

"I'll come with you", he said already starting to rise from his chair but Buffy pushed him back down. "You can't. The store closes before sundown every day." "But the crib must be heavy, you can't carry it", he kept protesting causing Cordelia huff in irritation and Buffy glare at him defiantly.

"I'm pregnant, not an invalid. I still can carry one baby's crib and Cordelia is going to be helping", she said and Cordelia sharply turned her head to look at Buffy, obviously she wasn't aware of having to carry anything. "I know you're not an invalid", he started but was interrupted by Buffy.

"Then stop treating me like one. I know you worry and I do too but I can't just sit in a corner till the baby is born." From the look of him she could see he was giving up but he wasn't happy about it. She gave him a bright smile and a quick kiss before hopping off the table and making her way through the door with Cordelia. "I'll see you later", she hollered as they went.

They made their way to the car and twenty minutes later they were at the shop. It was full of different items from furniture to clothes, some were brand new as others were antique. It didn't take long for Buffy to find the crib she was looking for and even though the price tag was high, she was convinced it was worth it.

"I can't believe you will put that much money in a piece of wood when you could buy two pairs of shoes. And it's so old", Cordelia said from behind her, shaking her head in disbelief. Buffy turned to Cordelia with a smile playing in her lips.

"I know it's old but it's also in good condition and it's way better than those self-build cardboard things than fall apart. And look at it, it's beautiful. And this is something I need, I don't need another pair of shoes", she defended her decision.

"Sure it's nice but you never can have too many shoes", Cordelia said back but didn't continue as something caught her eye and she made straight line towards it. "Oo... Look at this!" she cooed and fiddled with the piece of light pink fabric. Buffy made her way to where Cordelia was standing and saw what it was she was holding.

"Cordy, the baby hasn't even born yet and we don't even know if it's a girl", she chastised but couldn't kill Cordelia's enthusiasm. "Come on, look at this, it's the perfect princess dress, it even has the little glass shoes." The shoes weren't glass, just see-through material but Buffy wasn't going to break the news to Cordelia.

"I just need the crib, we'll reconsider the dress if the baby is girl and when she's old enough not to put the shoes in her mouth", Buffy assured her speaking like to a child who had been refused of a toy. Cordelia just shot her annoyed glance but didn't retaliate.

.

Buffy bought the crib and together with Cordelia she carried it to the car. She dropped Cordelia to an audition and went to a nearby café to wait for her. She ordered a salad and found herself a table. After fifteen minutes she had glanced at the clock three times and sighed deeply, she just knew that Cordelia wasn't coming out anytime soon.

"Buffy?" she heard a questioning man's voice from next to her. She lifted her gaze and saw Christian. "Christian, hi", she said little surprised to see him.

"How's your car running?" he asked with his charmer smile. "Just fine, my boyfriend and friend fixed it", she answered noticing the coffee cup in his hand, he looked a little awkward standing there. "You wanna sit?" She signed to the chair across the table and again was rewarded with a charming smile. He sat down and they kept on talking for nearly forty-five minutes till Buffy saw Cordelia crossing the street.

"Oh, I have to go, my friend is coming", Buffy said and got up from the table. Christian did the same, quickly glancing out the window and turned to Buffy with his back to the window. "It was nice to see you, again. Maybe we'll run into each other again sometime", he said and glanced at the mirror on the wall, seeing Cordelia walk in through the door.

"Well, I have a meeting. Later, Buffy", he said again flashing the smile and turned away. "Bye, Christian", she said back and went to Cordelia noticing that she had just walked in.

"Who was that?" she asked watching as the strange guy walked away. Buffy turned to look after Christian and then turned back to Cordelia. "Oh, Christian, the guy that gave me a ride here when my car stopped the other night. Do you want coffee or just wanna go home?" Cordelia looked around the café crunching her face.

"Home. The audition was brutal, the director was a real sleaze-bag, I wanted to punch him. Or call you to punch him." "Was it really that bad?" Buffy asked sympathetically.

"The guy groped me. Went and slapped me on my butt. You know, I was this close to slapping him back", Cordelia said showing her fingers inch apart and looking every bit of the queen C Buffy used to know in high school.

"Yeah, maybe you should have called me cause there is nothing more dangerous than a hormonal slayer whose friend has been mistreated", Buffy said. "What?" she asked confused at the look Cordelia was giving her.

"You think me as your friend?" Cordelia asked with a small unsure smile. "Well, yeah", Buffy answered, slightly guarded since she didn't know how Cordelia would feel about it. "Really?" All Buffy could do was nod.

"Good, cause I consider you as a friend too, even though your fashion sense could use some work and you choose a crib instead of shoes", Cordelia answered in her usual blunt manner, all the insecurity from few moments before was gone. Buffy rolled her eyes but couldn't stop the smile from rising to her lips.

.

Angel looked at the white wooden crib on the corner of their bedroom and he couldn't help but smile. "What you think?" Buffy asked from behind him, she wrapped her arms around him and placed her chin on his shoulder. "It's perfect", he answered and turned his head enough to kiss her.

"I knew you'd like it. The first time I saw it, I just fell in love with it", she said and urged him to lay down on the bed with her. He scooted back against the headboard and pulled her into his arms placing a kiss to the top of her head.

"You know Cordy is rooting for a girl and I don't think she will forgive us if the baby is a boy. Today she was looking at this pink princess dress with fake glass slippers and gloves and tiara, if the baby really is a girl, I'm afraid she might become a real princess if Cordy has anything to say to it."

"Didn't you ever want to be a princess?" he asked with a lopsided grin, he could remember her in that Halloween outfit all too well. "Not really. My cousin Celia and I used play that she got caught in an avalanche, of course it was just every pillow in the house, and I would come and rescue her", she said with a small nostalgic smile and her eyes started to tear up, remembering her childhood best friend was hard on her. Angel pulled her closer to him and swept back her hair before he pressed a comforting kiss to her forehead. She let out a raggedy breathe.

"If it's a girl, could we make her second name Celia?" she asked and lifted her head up to look at him. "Of course", he promised and earned a teary smile.

"I hope it's a girl who looks just like her mother", he mused, placing a gentle hand on her stomach. "Well, I'm picturing a dark haired boy with chocolate brown eyes that has the same mischievous smirk as his father. I can just picture you when you were a child, I bet you got into trouble in regular basis", she said back with a smirk, finally the playfulness reaching her eyes.

"Be careful what you wish for", he whispered back with a small smile, keeping the upcoming brooding at bay, this was not the time. "Boy or a girl, I'm happy", she said and burrowed deeper against his chest. "Me too", he added and placed a kiss against her hair.

With a content sigh, she closed her eyes, letting sleep claim her as did Angel. Both unaware of Riley standing in one of the apartment windows of the building across the street. He was looking through a video camera, grinding his teeth together in suppressed anger, his eyes fixated on the baby's crib on the corner of the room where Buffy was snuggled into that dead monster. His hand clenched into a fist and in a outburst of rage he threw the video camera across the room smashing it into a wall. He spun around and kept staring at the window, still able to see the outline of two bodies on the bed.

To be continued...


	6. Faithful followers

**Chapter 6: Faithful followers**

Riley was sitting by the window, holding a folder in his hands and leafing through the pages with a small smile playing on his lips. The pages were full of pictures of Buffy in different situations, all close-up taken from a distance. He stopped at a picture where she was smiling brightly, the sun shining in her hair as it did on her smile. He traced her features with his finger and smiled.

But his smile faltered as he saw movement in the corner of his eye. He lifted his head and turned to watch what was happening through the video camera. His features hardened as he watched Buffy and Angel walk into the bedroom, kissing and talking. His fists clenched and unclenched as they started shedding their clothes off but what send him over the edge was when they went to the bathroom and closed the door.

"How dare he!" Riley screamed in rage and threw the folder to the wall sending the sheets flying. He jumped to his feet and paced the room, gripping his hair and shaking his head. He stopped as he stepped on one of the pictures, he fell to his knees and gently took the photo into his hands. He looked at the picture with tenderness and traced her face with his knuckles.

"I will save you", he promised and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips.

.

"I'm fat", Buffy stated frowning and placed both of her hands on her swelling belly.

"You're not fat", Angel said back and wrapped his arms around her from behind, covering her hands with his and placing his chin on her shoulder. "You're having a baby", he added and pressed a kiss to her neck. He looked into the mirror, only Buffy could be seen but then again, he hadn't expected anything else.

"Do you know what I want?" she asked nearly in a whisper, a small smile rising to her lips. "What? Again?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, an arrogant smirk planted on his lips. "Cookie dough fudge mint chip ice cream", she answered and giggled cause she knew it wasn't what he had been thinking of.

"Well, you better get dressed then cause you're not going down there like this", he said looking down at her nude body, making her giggle again. "I doubt Cordelia would appreciate it."

"It's not Cordelia I'm thinking about", he answered scowling and earned a playful slap from her. She turned to look at him and laughed.

"Get a grip, Angel. Even if it was just the two of us, I wouldn't go running around in my birthday suit", she chastised and slapped him again. He wrapped a towel around her before doing the same and following her into the bedroom.

"I know I have been..." "Overly jealous and growly?" Buffy assisted innocently while digging the closet for clothes. "...protective lately", he finished his sentence.

"Says the guy who gets jealous when I get a letter from a nine years old boy", she said looking at him pointedly and he just tried to look innocent.

"I don't get jealous because of Liam", he defended himself and added mumbling: "Anymore."

"You know I think you're cute when you're jealous but get over it. I love you, we're together and we're having a baby. So get over it", she said and pulled on a pair of pants and a t-shirt before laying down on the bed.

"When am I meeting Christian?" he asked casually while dressing. She sighed deeply. "I'm not getting growly, as you put it. It's just that you have a new friend and I'd like to meet him", he explained, he really wasn't jealous of him, well, maybe a little.

"I have been trying to arrange that, but he's a musician, he only has time during the day and it would be a little tough to explain why my boyfriend runs into the meeting with a blanket over his head. But I'm working on it, I'm sure you will like him. And it's nice to have a almost normal friend." Angel looked away and Buffy could read his thoughts, 'like I'm not'. She got off the bed and stood in front of him, grabbing hold of his chin and forcing him to look at her.

"I thought we've been though this already, don't go to the brood-land over this. I don't want a normal breathing boyfriend, I don't want picnics in the sun and the children-excuse doesn't apply anymore since I'm pregnant despite the fact that you're a vampire. I just meant that it's refreshing to know someone that doesn't know I'm a slayer." Angel gave her a small smile before pressing a soft kiss to her lips.

"How 'bout that ice cream?" he reminded her and placed his hand on the small bump. "It's not like I forgot it, I was just waiting you to get dressed, cause I would get growly if you wandered around in your birthday suit in front of Cordy."

.

Buffy looked around the bedroom, she was having a eerie feeling, like when Angelus had been stalking her but without the slight tingly feeling. Her gaze fixed on the window, she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary but she could feel it, like someone was watching her, she went to stand in front of the window, her eyes searching the shadows of the street before she pulled the drapes. She jumped as she felt arms wrap around her but immediately relaxed against the hard chest behind her.

"What were you thinking about?" Angel asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"Just had this feeling... like someone was watching, like Rear window-watching", she answered and turned in his arms, looking into his face. "Hitchcock", he stated, proving that he wasn't completely clueless in all her preferences, and earned a crooked smile from her.

"It's probably just my hormones making my slayer senses go all wonky", she played it off and yawned. "You're tired", he stated and guided her to the bed. They laid down on the bed on top of the bedspread and Angel pulled her securely into his arms. He kept looking at the window, sometimes he too had the feeling of someone watching but he had put it down as paranoia but now he wasn't so sure.

"Are you all set for tomorrow?" she asked, her voice a mumble against his chest. "Yes, I've got my blanket", he answered smiling, it was a silly question.

"Are you sure you want to come with?" she asked closing her eyes and starting to drift into sleep. "I'm sure, I want to be there with you", he answered pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. It was the first time he was going into a check-up with her, all her appointments had been during the day and she didn't want to risk Angel catching the sun, but tomorrow was going to be cloudy so he was willing to take the risk.

Buffy mumbled something against his chest but he couldn't make out the words and only few short moments later she was asleep. He looked at the window again, something was happening and he wanted to know what it was, there was no chance in hell he was going to let anything happen to her or the baby. His face furrowed into a frown, he was going to have to ask around, check out the neighborhood more thoroughly. And soon he was in a full brood-mode, the only time he could do that these days was when she was sleeping. He lowered his gaze back to the sleeping blonde in his arms and he swore in his mind that he wasn't going to let anyone hurt her, he would protect her even if it would cost his life.

.

Riley scrubbed his body nearly raw in the shower, he only used products without any fragrance in them and pulled on clothes that too had been washed with odorless products. He started packing a bag full of different gadgets and threw it on the bed before he glanced at the video camera, the bedroom was empty. He pulled the curtains back and saw that the man he had identified as Wesley Wyndham-Price was going to the car, Riley checked his watch and cursed under his breath, he was late. He grabbed the bag and pulled his cap securely on to his head before running out the door. At the front door of his apartment building, he stopped, took a deep calming breath and walked out to his car.

He waited for some minutes, watching as Wesley drove the car to the front of Hyperion, as close to the door as he could. His hands gripped tightly at the steering wheel as he saw a dark figure running to the car, a gray blanket wrapped around him. What was that fiend doing? Not long after he had disappeared inside the car, Buffy walked out the door, going to the car after him. As the car started moving, Riley trailed after it all the way to the hospital underground parking hall.

"What has the vampire done to her?!" he yelled to himself. He had seen the crib in the corner of Buffy's bedroom and he noticed that she had put on weight but he always managed to convince himself that it wasn't the obvious answer, maybe the tall brunette was pregnant, or one of the two men had a child, maybe one of her relatives was expecting a baby or the most infuriating thought, that she was going to adopt with the murderer she was living with. He did everything he could to avoid the thought that she was going to have a baby of her own, he had seen the man she was spending time, he hadn't managed to catch more than a name, Christian, but to his comfort, Buffy and Christian were always on public when they met.

He watched as the group made their way to the elevators and after they were out of sight, he started his car and drove back to the Hyperion. Putting his army training into good use, he sneaked inside the hotel and into the bedroom without the man or the nosy brunette seeing him. He looked around the room, he had a urge to destroy every object that reminded of the bloodsucking monster that lived there too but he managed to suppress the urge, no one was going to know he had been there. He installed a microphone chip into the room and glanced at his watch, he still had time.

He looked around the room, lazily walking around the room, looking at the things that he knew were hers and fiddling with some of them, feeling the connection to her through them. He stopped in front of a drawer, he just stood there for a good while before opening the top one and looking through it. He picked up a piece of light pink panties and a smile rose to his lips, his imagination starting to make images. But his muses were interrupted by a sound of pair of high heels clicking towards the room door. He pushed the piece of fabric into his pocket, grabbed his bag and hid into the bathroom just in time before Cordelia walked into the room. She made her way to the closet and pulled out a black v-neck blouse. She started towards the door but a small sound caught her attention and she stopped, looking around the room. She cautiously went to the bathroom door and looked inside. As she didn't see anyone, she let out a sigh of relief and walked out mumbling to herself about spending too much time with slayers and vampires.

.

Angel was wringing his hands in nervousness, he looked around himself at the waiting room and then fixed his eyes on the woman next to her. She was squeezing his thigh with her fingers digging into his flesh but he didn't feel any pain. He smiled slightly and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. Buffy turned to look at him in puzzlement, he wasn't usually comfortable showing affection in public but then she noticed that he must be as anxious as she was.

"Don't worry so much, it's just a check-up, they take some blood, do some tests and we go home with a abstract picture of the baby so we can try to guess what is the leg and what is just a spot", she said trying to form a smile to her lips but hospitals always made her jumpy, she was just glad that Angel was with her, it had been a torture to visit her appointments before.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be a nervous wreck, I know how much you dislike hospitals", he said and wrapped his arm around her shoulder pulling her against him. She leaned her head against him and sighed. "Dislike isn't strong enough word", she said and let his presence calm her own nerves.

Only few minutes later, the nurse stepped into the waiting room and guided Buffy and Angel to the doctor's office. Dr Lang got up from behind her desk and came to greet her patient. "Hello Buffy", she said and shook her hand before glancing at the young man next to her.

"Hello, Dr. Lang", Buffy greeted back and noticed that the doctor was waiting for her to introduce her companion. "And this is Angel", she added.

"Ah, the father. I am very glad you decided to come and join us", Dr Lang said with a smile, she had noticed that Buffy was much more relaxed at his presence. They went to sit and Dr Lang asked about the pregnancy before she took a blood sample and they moved to the ultrasound. Buffy climbed to the table and lifted her shirt up.

"It's gonna be cold but you already knew that", Dr Lang said before she squirted the liquid and spread it around her stomach. As the picture formed on the tv screen, Angel couldn't help but look at awe. He grabbed Buffy's hand into his own and planted a kiss to her knuckles, not letting his eyes wander off the screen.

"Is this your first baby, mister...?" Dr Lang asked, realizing she hadn't caught the last name. "Just Angel. And yes, this is our first child", Angel answered and shifted his eyes back to Buffy, a small smile rising to his lips as he looked at the mother of his child.

.

"What did I tell you, exercise and light lifting isn't going to hurt me or the baby, Dr Lang even encouraged the exercise", Buffy said smugly to Angel as they walked towards the office after Angel had made a dash inside.

"You're just going to gloat on her backing you up, aren't you?" Angel asked her and she nodded her head enthusiastically. "Oh, you bet I am", she answered with a smirk. Angel opened the office door for her but she shook her head.

"I need to take a shower, I think I still have some of that goo on", she said frowning. "Want to wash my back?" she asked a mischievous smirk rising to her lips.

"Oh come on, you two!" Cordelia wailed from behind them, rolling her eyes at the couple. They turned to look at the brunette, both a little embarrassed that she had caught them. "Hey Cordy", Buffy greeted.

"So, how was the check-up? I see the happy father isn't small enough to fit into a ashtray", Cordelia asked in her usual manner. "Just fine", Buffy answered and pulled out the ultrasound-picture, handing it to Cordelia.

"What am I supposed to see here?" she asked looking at the picture like it was a different life form. "That's the baby", Buffy said and glided her finger on the lines. "Okay, if you say so", Cordelia dismissed it flippantly. Buffy glanced at the clock and frowned.

"I gotta go take that shower, I'm having that coffee with Christian", she said regretfully and at Angels scowl, continued: "But maybe I could swing him by here so you could meet him." Angel just nodded and Cordelia rolled her eyes.

"So, you told me he's good looking, but does he have any money?" Cordelia asked ignoring the deepening frown on Angels face. "I don't think so, at least not in the way you mean. He's a musician." Cordelia waved her hand in dismissal.

"So I don't need to be here to watch the interrogation, although it could be entertaining. But I still have a life and I'm going to a audition."

"You've got a audition? Need any help?" Buffy asked raising a concerned eyebrow. "No need, if this director tries anything, I'm gonna kick him where it hurts", she said and walked out of the office. Buffy and Angel watched her go before going back to their earlier conversation.

"So, maybe we should avoid the monster-y things laying around, in case Christian does come here." "I'll try to do that, I'm looking forward in meeting him", he said and Buffy gave him a skeptical look.

"You're not going to team up with Gunn and scare him off, are you?" she asked with a hint of amusement.

"I promise not to scare him off... badly", he answered, adding the latter part with a smirk. "That's nice of you", she stated with a smile tucking her lips, she tried to be serious but it just wasn't working.

"Come on, funny guy, you can wash my back", she said, grabbing hold of his sleeve and dragging him with her to upstairs.

.

Buffy and Christian were sitting in a quiet café and they had been just talking for the last hour. Once again Buffy was bothered by the feeling that she had seen him before they had met at the dark road from Sunnydale. She looked intently at his eyes before letting her eyes drift down to his hand.

"I'm sorry if I'm stepping out of line, but... what happened to your hand?" she asked somewhat awkwardly, not sure if it was appropriate to ask. Christian's eyes dropped to his other hand and unconsciously he stretched his fingers.

"An accident at a work place. I was working at a lumber mill back home and... well, you can see what happened. Fortunately the company had a insurance policy and that's how I got my new hand, latest technology and I can still play my guitar." "I'm sorry", she whispered but he just shook it off and gave her a subdued smile. "Don't worry about it, wasn't your fault."

"By the way, Angel would like to meet you", Buffy changed the subject. Christian glanced at the clock on the wall and turned back to Buffy. "And I'd like to meet the guy who stole your heart before I could but I can't now, I've got a meeting with a producer in fifteen minutes."

"Okay, I'll let you go to your meeting. But we'll need to work on that meeting between you and Angel", she said and he nodded in conformation. They got up and said a quick goodbye before Christian left the café, on his way to his car, he saw Cordelia make her way to the café, he knew she saw him but he didn't pay any attention to her.

Cordelia walked into the café and sat down to Buffy's table, she was picking at her salad and trying to drink her tea, she had limited her coffee to one cup a day since she was pregnant. "Hey. So where's your friend?" Cordelia asked while sitting down.

"You just missed him. He had a appointment with some producer", Buffy explained and grimaced at the tea, setting it down and pushing it away from her.

"So there could be a possible recording contract, maybe you should introduce me to him", she smirked but Buffy could tell she wasn't completely serious, maybe few years ago she would have been, but not anymore. "Sure. So how was your audition? Any bodily harm done to a groping director?" Buffy asked and Cordelia shook her head with a wide smile.

"I'm going out with him tomorrow night. The part went to one of those homely looking mousey girls but then he asked ME out. I guess that's better, since I'm really not a frustrated housewife type that was required for the commercial."

"I'm sorry about the part but happy about the date. So what's he like?" "Oo... He's handsome, sophisticated, has this nice, thick brown hair, no balding issues there and piercing blue eyes, and he doesn't have to wear the glasses unless he wants to see where he's going but hey, on a bad hair day, you can just hide his glasses and he won't be any wiser. And did I mention the British accent?" Cordelia said with catching enthusiasm and Buffy couldn't help but smile.

"Well, he sounds perfect, although I like the tall, dark and broody type that lost his Irish accent a hundred years ago", she stated.

.

Buffy waited for an hour before grabbing her stake, storing another one into her jacket and hiding a dagger to her boot. The slayer in her was screaming for the hunt and she had no choice but to answer it. She had been sneaking out for some time, been careful and taking out newly risen vampires, nothing she couldn't handle. She knew Angel would probably chain her to the bed if he knew, although she was wondering why he hadn't noticed yet.

She went to the nearest cemetery and did a quick sweep, finding only one new grave. She recognized the name, she had a habbit of reading the obituaries and about death's that seemed like vamp doings, since LA was a big city and she didn't have the time to just wait on every new grave. She sat on the tombstone and waited till she could feel she wasn't alone. She turned enough to look behind her and she nearly fell to the ground when she saw Riley.

"Riley!?" she yelped in surprise and stepped down from the stone. "What are you doing here?" she asked defensively, she remembered all too well that Riley had been breaking into her apartment back in Sunnydale and just looking at him made her feel uneasy.

"I just wanted to see you, to talk to you", he answered and walked closer to her, making her take steps back.

"We don't have anything to talk about. How did you even know I was here?" she asked, her voice rising as well as her unease. "It was fate", he answered and the look in his eyes made her want to flee.

"It wasn't fate. You broke into my home back in Sunnydale, there is nothing I want to speak with you. I don't want to see you ever again because you did to me something that I can't forgive", she said and turned around, stomping towards the exit.

"Buffy, darling, that vampire has done something to you. Please let me help you, let me take you away from here, somewhere safe, we can stay at my parents farm till I find us a place of our own", Riley said desperately, running after her and grabbing a hold of her arm. She spun around sharply and gave him one of her slayer looks before yanking her arm free.

"Riley, I don't want to move into your parents farm with you, I am not under any influence and I never want to see you again. Am I making my self clear?!" she asked and in the corner of her eye, saw the vampire rising. She went back to the grave, grabbed the vampire by his shirt collar and struck the stake into his heart. She turned to look at Riley.

"Stay away from me!" she commanded and ran away from the cemetery. She didn't stop until she reached the Hyperion and couldn't stop the tears forming in her eyes. She felt like a coward but still she knew she had done the right thing, she was pretty sure Riley wouldn't hurt her but still, she was frightened by the look in his eyes. She was going to have a baby and she wasn't going to do anything to endanger him or her, she'd rather run away than face Riley, she wasn't taking any unnecessary risks.

She composed herself before going inside and straight into the bedroom. She was just hoping she wouldn't run into anybody, like Gunn who had moved into one of the room or especially Cordelia who also practically lived in the hotel, she only went to her apartment to sleep, sometimes not even that. To her luck she managed to make her way to her room without being detected but Angel was already home, the shower was running and there was a pair of sweats laid on the bed. She went to the mirror and tried to salvage her make up, wipe off the running mascara.

"Buffy? Are you alright?" Angel asked from behind her, startling her since she couldn't see him through the mirror and had been too distracted to hear him come out of the bathroom. She spun around and buried her face into his now warm chest. She was tired of always being strong, with Angel she could stop fighting and find comfort in him. She let the tears fall and immediately calmed down as Angels arms circled her body. After a few moments she pulled back, wiping away the tears from his chest and lifting her gaze to his face.

"I ran into Riley", she whispered and his face furrowed into a angry frown that she knew wasn't directed at her. "What did he do?" Angel bit out, trying to keep the anger away from his voice not to scare her.

"He didn't do anything. He just... the way he talked... Well I didn't let him talk much before I ran like a sissy but the look in his eyes... and the whole 'I will rescue you and we will move to my parents farm' speech really shook me", she tried to get the words out of her mouth. Angel pulled her more tightly into his arms and hushed against her ear, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek before guiding her to sit with him on the bed.

"You didn't run like a sissy, you did the right thing, you thought of the baby, we don't know what he was thinking and what he might have done, you did the right thing in leaving before anything could happen", he assured her and pressed another kiss to her cheek. A solitary tear rolled down her cheek and he caught it with his thumb, wiping it away.

"Shhh... It's alright, you're safe", he assured her and she turned to look at him with big sad eyes. "I went out to hunt, you know", she started uncertainly and he nodded. "I know."

"You must be really disappointed in me", she whispered before placing her head on his shoulder and looking away.

"I'm not disappointed, I'm just... not pleased. I know you're the slayer, it is against your nature to stop hunting. But what I don't like is that you went out alone. I know I probably would have said no if you'd asked to come with me on a patrol but..." he said without knowing how to finish.

"If it makes you feel any better, I only took on the newly risen vamps, I didn't go out looking for anyone experienced", she said like a little child and despite the morose mood, he smiled.

"What am I going to do with you", he said to himself, shaking his head. "Love me?" she suggested with a small voice and he placed his fingers under her chin, lifting her head so she could look at him.

"I already love you", he answered and placed a tender kiss to her lips. "I love you too", she whispered back with a tearful smile. "Just promise you'll not patrol alone", he said looking into her eyes, showing he was serious. "I promise."

.

Lindsay sat in a meeting, waiting for the two other men to say something as they were finishing reading the files in front of them. Almost like coordinated, they put down the files and turned to look at him.

"We are very pleased that you have managed to get a close contact to the target but we haven't seen anything useful happen yet", one of the men said sternly.

"Gentlemen, she is the perfect way to get to Angel, she is his weakness. In those files are also her medical records and as you can see, she is pregnant. And by knowing her, there is no doubt that the baby is the vampire's, which should be impossible. But just by her being a slayer, the child will be a great asset to us, there are only few recorded slayers that have had a child after they have been called, I have no doubt that the kid will be powerful, something that Wolfram & Hart would like to have in their hands. I have already put the research department looking for a prophecy concerning the souled vampire."

"Good job, Mr McDonald, but what about this character that has been following her and you, this Riley Finn?" "He doesn't know who I am and he seems to be delusional and unstable but he still can be help to us, we can use him", Lindsay answered, all he wanted to do was get the annoying shadow off his way but he couldn't do that since it seemed that the deranged soldier could be useful.

"Well, you better get results quick, Mr McDonald, Wolfram and Hart is not paying you to have lunches with the slayer", the man said and got up from his chair as did the other, leaving the room without saying anything else.

"Hello Christian", Lilah said mockingly, slinking inside the office only few minutes after the men had left. "Hello, Lilah", Lindsay answered coolly.

"So the little slayer is pregnant, you didn't knock her up, did you?" she continued with a self-satisfied smile and sat down in one of the chairs. "It appears that our souled vampire did that", Lindsay answered, making Lilah laugh.

"You do still remember that vampires can't have children. Blondie probably just messed around with the watcher, or the street kid", Lilah said dismissing the idea of vampire managing to have a child.

"I don't think so, Lilah. The research is already digging into the books and I am sure they'll find something, this is the sure thing."

"Like the spell to release Angelus by making the slayer jump Angels bones was a sure thing?" Lilah taunted him. Lindsay just send a glare at her way, he was still relieved that Buffy hadn't recognized him, but then again, she had been drunk at the time and hadn't paid any attention to him, and that brought back the memory of Angelus squeezing his neck, he still didn't know why he had let him live. He shivered, still remembering the look in his eyes. Shaking the unwanted feeling off, he lifted his gaze to Lilah and gave her one of his charming smiles.

"I assure you, this one will work. Buffy is the way to get to him."

.

To be continued...


	7. Listening

Chapter 7: Listening

.

Buffy shifted to her right side and sighed in relief, her back had been acting up lately, her delicate frame didn't like the new weight on the front.

"Everything alright?" Angel asked as he padded from the bathroom and pulled his wifebeater on. "Just little backache", Buffy answered and felt the bed dip behind her. "Sit up", he whispered to her ear as he nuzzled to the nape of her neck and pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder.

Cordelia strolled into the office, swinging her long hair back, she leaned over the desk to dig into the drawers. "God! It's like a morgue in here", she said to herself as she looked at her surroundings, Gunn was off to fight some demon and Wesley had his nose in the books, so she was practically all by herself.

Her eyes drew to the radio, maybe some music would help her mood. She started going through the channels till she found something else than static, the hotel was like a bunker, not all the signals could be heard depending on where in the hotel the radio was.

"Hmm... Don't stop that... Right there", Buffy moaned and Cordelia shrieked loudly before pushing the radio down to the floor. It broke into pieces and to Cordelia's relief, went silent.

After hearing the crash, Wesley abandoned his books and ran to the office. "What happened? Are you alright?" Wesley questioned worriedly. Cordelia pointed at the broken radio on the floor and Wesley lifted his gaze to her face, looking at her in question, she seemed to be alright but startled.

"Buffy... Angel... in the radio... doing IT", she stammered and Wesley's confusion just increased. "What? Cordelia, what are you talking about?" Cordelia just pointed at the radio in frustration. "I heard Angel and Buffy, but it came through the radio."

"Umm... If that is correct, we should inform them about this incident", Wesley said awkwardly and started to go upstairs, Cordelia trailing behind him.

"Are you nuts!? They're doing IT in there! I'm not going to walk in there! My trauma level with them is high enough" she yammered after him but when they reached the bedroom door, she just stayed there glaring at him. For a moment they listened to the voices till he got the courage to knock.

"Yeah!" Buffy's voice called out. "Can we come in?" Wesley asked and the door opened, to both Wesley's and Cordelia's relief, both occupants of the room were fully dressed. Angel stepped back, letting the two walk in.

"What were you two doing in the middle of the day?" Cordelia asked accusingly and both Buffy and Angel looked at her in confusion.

"What? Angel was just massaging my back", Buffy said still clueless what brought this on.

"Oh", Cordelia sighed at the realization. "So he was massaging your back... Wesley here thought..." she started and Wesley send her a glare.

"There seems to be a situation you two should know about. But I believe we should discuss it in some other place", he said interrupting Cordelia but still sending her dirty looks.

"Wes, have you been taking cryptic lessons on your free-time?" Buffy asked but got up from the bed anyway. "Well... No..." Wesley started awkwardly but then realized it had been just a joke and he looked away embarrassed.

They went to the office but first they had to leap over the remains of the radio. "Was that radio misbehaving? You know Cordy, if they're playing a terrible song, all you have to do is to pull the plug, you don't have to kill it", Buffy said to Cordelia in a fake-chiding manner.

"Very funny", she responded with a sarcastic look. "Well, you didn't have to hear you moaning in it, I'm traumatized enough by you two!"

"What?" Buffy gasped, both her and Angel doing their best deer-caught-in-headlights impression.

"Well, it appears that Cordelia heard your... discussion in the radio as she turned it on. I believe that there might be some kind of listening devise in your bedroom... and that the radio accidentally caught the signal", Wesley explained.

"So what you're saying is, that this place is bugged? Who would do such a thing", she started but quieted as the possibility hit her. "Riley", she sighed and turned to look at Angel.

"He wouldn't do that, would he?" she tried to deny it but even Angel's sad look confirmed that he too believed it was Riley. "I think it's a strong possibility", he answered.

"But why? Why would he do something like that?" she asked shaking her head, wanting to believe that he wouldn't go so far but she was failing miserably at convincing herself, she could all too vividly remember the feeling she had when he had broken into her apartment and the conversation at the graveyard. She shivered at the memories, what could she do, he was human and that fact made it even worse.

"He's obsessed", Angel stated, his face shifting into full brood mode.

"So Buffy has a stalker? What is it with you that attracts psychos? Do all you ex's stalk you after the break-up, first Angelus, now Captain Cardboard?" Cordelia stated in her usual blunt manner.

"Captain Cardboard?" Buffy asked her, lifting he eyebrow. "I heard you and Spike talking on the phone once, it kinda stuck. You have to admit he's just as stiff and boring", Cordelia explained shrugging her shoulder dismissively.

Wesley cleared his throat. "If the situation truly is that far, I know a chap who works with electronics, he could look if there's any microphones in the building and if there are, determine how far the signal will reach", Wesley suggested.

"Good, you do that, Wesley", Angel said absently, his whole attention was drawn to Buffy, his hand automatically going to cover the bump. "I'll call him instantly", Wesley promised and earned a grateful nod from Angel.

"Do you want to move into another room?" Angel asked, turning to Buffy and smoothing her hair back. "I don't think we should", she answered. "You're right, we should try to act normal and not let him notice that we know about the bugs", Angel nodded and pressed a comforting kiss to the crown of her head.

Cordelia figured that they wanted a moment alone to discuss things. "I'm gonna go and call Preston, I've let him squirm long enough", she said and signed to the door. The couple nodded and she left.

"Who's Preston?" Angel questioned and Buffy tried to look as innocent as possible. "A guy Cordelia's been seeing", Buffy answered somewhat coyly, looking like a little kid who didn't want to reveal a secret and all that was missing was the shuffling of her feet.

"Cordy has a boyfriend? Why didn't I know about it? She doesn't tell me anything these days", Angel said with a frown and what dangerously looked like a pout.

"Maybe because you're a guy, and because you would have scared him off with your overly-protective-father impression. If the baby is a girl, just wait till our daughter starts to date", she said with a smirk and he looked at her like she had just said something horrible.

"Our daughter will not date", he stated like it was a fact that couldn't be contradicted. Buffy giggled at his expression and gently patted his cheek. "You're so naive, my love", she said mockingly, making him growl. He grabbed her waits, pulling her flush against him.

"I'm anything but naive. But I know that men are evil", he said nippling her ear. "Honey, you forget that you're a man", she whispered breathlessly.

"Oh, I haven't forgotten, that's why I have first class information on the matter", he said huskily and pressed against her, backing her to the desk. His lips traveled down her throat, paying extra attention on his mark as his hands slid down her sides.

"Okay, break it up, people! What have I told you about getting too acquainted in public places, soon I can't touch any surface in this building!" Cordelia yelled at them from the door, waving the phone in her hand.

"What she doesn't know, won't hurt her", Angel whispered into Buffy's ear and earned a slap from her. Gently, Buffy pushed Angel away from her and straightened her clothes.

"Sorry, Cordy. Angel was just telling me that all men are evil", she said with a smirk. "Like we didn't know that already", Cordelia huffed and rolled her eyes. "Okay, Buffy is coming with me, I need a dress for tonight", she declared, not leaving room for any protests.

"You have a date?" Angel asked, trying to sound casual. "Yeah, I got a date. Some of us are still single, you know."

"Maybe you should ask him to pick you up from here, introduce us", Angel suggested but Cordelia just rolled her eyes at his subtle try.

"As if. You'd scare him away!" She sent him a half-glare and grabbed a hold of Buffy's hand, dragging her towards the door. "I'll return her to you in few hours", she promised.

.

Buffy and Cordelia returned from their shopping trip three hours later, Wesley's friend had already arrived some time earlier.

"Buffy, this is Mike. Mike, this is miss Summers", Wesley introduced them and Buffy gave him a curt nod, her slayer senses were high strung and by his violet eyes, she could see he wasn't entirely human. After the introductions, they moved to the second floor, starting from the bedroom. Mike looked around himself, tilting his head to the side and grabbed some kind of electric devise. After a while, he nodded towards the door and everyone went back to the hallway.

"There is only one microphone in this house, you were right, it is in the bedroom. The receiver is somewhere in the mile radius", he told the others.

"So there's only one bug", Buffy clarified. "Yes." Wesley took Mike back downstairs but Buffy and Angel stayed at the hallway.

"I think I'd like to visit Sunnydale, everyone's been asking when I come there and it would be nice to be somewhere were my every word isn't listened to", she suggested hugging herself as she looked at the bedroom door. Angel wrapped his arms around her from behind and placed his chin on her shoulder.

"I understand, but what about the agency, what if Cordelia has a vision?" he asked and Buffy turned in his arms.

"It's been quiet lately and the guys can handle themselves, it would only be for few days. And if Cordy has a vision, there is the thing called telephone, Sunnydale is only two hours away."

"Well, it's not like I'd let you go there alone. And the stress isn't good for the baby", Angel conceded, trying to sound casual. Buffy smiled and placed a soft kiss to his lips. Suddenly she froze and just stared at him.

"What? Buffy?" he asked quickly getting scared and not even the amazed smile eased his thoughts. "I think the baby just kicked", she whispered and it was Angel's turn to stare. Once he came to his senses, his eyes lowered to her stomach and he placed a hand over the bump.

"I know he... or she has been moving for some time now, but that definitely was a kick", she told him in amazement, her smile widening. The baby shifted inside her but didn't grant another kick.

"We should go to the others. I managed to convince Cordy to show her date, as long as you behave yourself", she said with a smirk. He just looked at her innocently. "Of course I behave myself." "Right", she drawled, giving him a skeptical look and a smile.

.

Cordelia strolled to the lobby, wearing a beautiful black dress with thin straps that crossed behind her back.

"Yo mama", Gunn commented with a low whistle. "Cause you're a friend, I'm going to ignore that and not hit you with my purse. Also my favorite lipstick is in it and I don't want to break it to your thick head", Cordelia shot back.

"Cordelia, you look lovely", Wesley said and earned a smile from Cordelia. "Thanks."

"So when is this gentleman of yours coming to pick you up?" he asked. Cordelia glanced at the clock. "About in five minutes."

Buffy and Angel walked into the lobby. "You look nice, Cordelia", Angel complimented.

"Just nice, I got a lovely from Wesley and a lewd whistle from Gunn", she huffed. Only moments later, there was a knock on the front door and a man walked inside.

"Hello", he said awkwardly as he noticed the group of people. He made his way to Cordelia taking hold of her other hand. "I hope I'm not too early", he said with a wide smile, showing off his line of white teeth.

"Not at all", she downplayed it with a wave of her hand. Buffy just stared at the man, all she could do was fight against the reflex of dropping her jaw to the floor, the guy was like another Wesley, only more muscular with broader shoulders, lighter colored hair and more expensive clothes.

"Cordelia, you look amazing", the guy stated and looked at his date up and down. "Thank you", Cordelia said almost coyly and gave him a wide smile before turning to the others.

"Guys, this is Preston. Preston these are the people I work with, Wesley, Gunn, Angel and Buffy", she introduced and pointed at everyone as she said their name. "Okay, we're going now", she said and tried to pull Preston with her to the door but was stopped when Angel spoke.

"So, how did you two meet?" "I was directing a commercial that Cordelia was auditioning to", Preston answered after turning back to the people in the room.

"So is it your hab..." Angel started to ask when Buffy covered his mouth with her hand, mumbling rest of the words. "Have a nice night", she said and sending her a grateful look, Cordelia lead her date away.

As soon as the door closed, Buffy released Angel's mouth and gave him a chiding look. "Why did you do that for?" he asked.

"Because I know what you were going to ask him and you promised to behave", she answered tapping her foot to the floor. "You don't know what I was going to say", he tried to defend himself.

"You were going to say if he has a habbit of asking out the girls that audition for him", she answered looking at him pointedly, not softening a bit. "Or maybe you do", he stated sheepishly.

"Well, I for one believe he was a very nice fellow", Wesley joined in. "That's because he has the same accent as you, English", Gunn shot at him. Buffy rolled her eyes and took a hold of Angel's arm, dragging him up the stairs with her.

"I need a shower and someone has to wash my back", she said, causing Angel to pick her up in his arms and carry her to the bedroom. She giggled and gave a halfhearted slap to his chest.

"Put me down before you strain your back", she chastised laughing. "Light as a feather", he stated and to prove his point, lifted her higher.

"Seriously, put me down." "Give me a kiss and I will", he bargained.

"You really have started charging people you save", she joked. "You're the only one with this fee." "Well, I better be", she said deadpanned and leaned down to give him the kiss. She intended it to be just a brief one but he refused to let her pull away and soon the kiss deepened. Slowly he lowered her to the bed and gave her a self-satisfied smirk.

"You are such a guy sometimes", she said rolling her eyes and started to make her way to the bathroom.

.

The next evening Angel and Buffy drove to Sunnydale, only making a stop at the mansion before heading out to Giles' apartment. She knocked at the door before just walking in, she knew she was expected since she had made some calls before leaving.

"Hey!" she said waving her hand as the group turned to look at the door, the whole gang had gathered at the apartment.

"Holy...! You're huge!" Xander yelped as the first to speak. Angel scowled and Buffy sent a glare at Xander. "Well, thanks Xander, I didn't know that before you pointed it out", she said dryly.

"But just look at it. How many little vamps are you having?" he tried to correct himself.

"The baby is human", Angel said tersely. "But..." Xander started to explain his words but was interrupted by Willow.

"Why don't you leave it at that before you dig a deeper grave for yourself", she suggested with a soft voice, thinking that Buffy and Angel wouldn't hear but they could.

"Well, it is great to see you two. I see you are advancing well", Giles said, pulling the attention away from Xander. "Yeah, doctor Lang said everything is going as it's supposed to", Buffy said with a smile, her gaze automatically drifting to the bump. Willow showed up to stand next to Giles and smiled widely, her full Willow-smile.

"Can I hug you?" she asked and Buffy pulled her into a hug. "Do you have to ask?" Buffy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I haven't hugged pregnant ladies all that much, I don't know if I will do something to the baby", she said uncertainly.

"Don't worry, doctor Lang explained all about the womb and water protecting the baby. Apparently the womb is like a big muscle, I know about my insides more than I would like. But I doubt you can squeeze me hard enough to hurt the baby", Buffy answered with a comforting smile.

"Oh, that's good", Willow sighed.

"Would you like some tea?" Giles asked as he guided the couple to the sofa. "Yeah, sure", Buffy answered shrugging her shoulders.

"Have you visited your mother already?" Giles asked from the kitchen. "No, we came straight here."

"But Buffy, you must..." Giles started to say but Buffy interrupted him sighing deeply. "I know, but I just can't deal with her right now."

"Is something wrong?" Willow asked concerned. "It's nothing to worry about", Buffy tried to dodge but Willow wouldn't let that happen.

"Now tell me, if you don't, I'm bound to worry. I'll stay up all night, making all these different scenario's of what it might be", Willow said all in one breath, her mind already picturing different things. "I can vouch for that", Tara said from next to her.

"It's just... We think Riley put a bug in out room", Buffy confessed, taking hold of Angel's hand to get strength.

"Why would Riley put a insect in your room?" Anya asked clearly baffled. "As in microphone, Anya", Willow clarified, then turned to Buffy with a frown. "Right?" Buffy nodded her head sadly.

"Why would Riley bug your room?" Xander asked incredulously.

"He's obsessed with Buffy", Angel answered shortly, as usual, he just tried to ignore the boy, Xander was one of Buffy's friends and that's why he didn't say anything but still, the boy could be a real pain in the ass with his childish behavior.

Giles walked into the room and set down the tray to the coffee table. "This could be truly serious. Have you informed the police? Because you know you can not do anything about him since he is human", Giles asked as he poured the tea.

"And tell them what when they see the books on demons and the weapon arsenal, not to mention that Angel doesn't really have a PI license?", Buffy returned the question. Giles looked away embarrassed, he took off his glasses and started wiping them with his handkerchief.

"You're quite right", he admitted and placed the glasses back to his head. "But the situation could become dangerous", he added sounding very fatherly.

"I know", Buffy admitted and sighed tiredly. "Could we please not talk about Riley, I'm on a Riley-free vacation", she asked pleadingly. "Of course", Giles said curtly.

"So, have you two decided what you're gonna name the baby?" Willow asked excitedly and her enthusiasm finally brought a smile to Buffy's face.

"Not really. We don't even know if the baby is a boy or a girl. But I'm thinking, something Irish. But Angel refuses the idea that if it's a boy that we'd name him after Angel, as in Liam", Buffy answered and gave Angel a gentle slap like a revenge for the name.

"Liam? I always thought your name was Angel", Willow said little confused from the new information.

"Well, my name was Liam before I was turned", Angel answered, feeling a little uncomfortable of being the center of attention, he was perfectly happy just sitting on the side and listening other people talking.

"Wow, you don't look like a Liam... you look like a Angel... You know not with the wings... but as in Buffy's Angel... Help?" Willow said awkwardly and turned to look at Tara for help.

Angel gave her a comforting smile. "I think I understand what you mean", he reassured her and she visibly relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, moving on. So what about if it's a girl?" Willow asked trying to get over her embarrassment.

"We don't know about the first name yet, but we agreed that the middle name would be Celia", Buffy answered, fighting against the feelings that assaulted her from just saying the name. As if reading her thoughts, Angel gave her hand a small comforting squeeze. She turned to look at him and gave him a grateful smile.

"After your cousin, that's so sweet", Willow sighed not noticing the change in Buffy. But to Buffy's relief, the sad moment was interrupted when Faith just walked in through the door, she didn't bother to knock since no one else did either.

"Yo, B! I thought I saw Angie's Angel mobile parked on front", she said and strode to the others. "Wow!" she commented after seeing Buffy's bump. She leaned forward and placed her hand on it.

"Come on, little rascal, give auntie Faith a good kick." "Don't encourage the baby, I'm sure I'll get plenty of roundhouse kicks at my ribs before she or he decides to come out", Buffy chided sending Faith a halfhearted glare.

"So, mama, how'bout joining me to a patrol, we have some catching up to do?" Faith suggested. Buffy glanced at the others and nodded. "Okay, you can fill me up with the Hellmouthy things", she said and got up from the couch, as did the others.

"But Buffy! The baby, you can't patrol", Willow protested, Angel didn't look pleased either.

"I'm not going patrolling, I'm just tagging along and letting the younger generation do all the hard work. Besides, the slayer side of me is going crazy without any action, you'd think it would go on a vacation till the baby is born."

"Um, actually there are only few mentions of a slayer getting pregnant, some slayers have had children before they were called but it is a rare occurrence that a slayer gives birth after she's active", Giles stated.

"That's because they didn't have any social life", Buffy stated, leaving out the fact that they probably hadn't lived long enough. She grabbed her jacket, the standard stake flashing from the inside pocket as she pulled it on and headed to the door, turning to the other before opening it.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow. Espresso Pump at one?" she suggested and got a chorus of 'sure' from her friends.

Outside, Angel turned to Buffy. "Want me to come along?" he asked hoping she would say yes. But she shook her head.

"We've got some girly stuff to talk about for girls only", she said with a small mischievous grin. "Okay, I'll check the cemeteries on the other side of town", he conceded, looking at her suspiciously.

"I'll wait for you in bed", she whispered and before he could say anything, she left with Faith. Angel was about to leave also but Xander's voice stopped him. "And how can we be sure that the spawn is human, huh? Just because some demon says so? The father Angel for crying out loud!" Angel growled angrily, he wanted to go back inside and wring the boys neck.

"Now, now Xander. I trust Buffy's judgment on the matter, I know her motherly instincts might cloud her judgment but she has never let her personal feeling come before the safety of the world", Giles said in his usual reasonable tone.

"You forget about Angelus. She couldn't kill him, she let that bastard roam free just because it had the same face as her bloodsucking boyfriend", Xander said and that was enough. Angel quickly stomped away before the urge to attack the boy would grow any deeper.

.

After the hateful words of Xander, Angel had been going through nests and possible hideouts to relieve the rage he was feeling. Finally he returned back to the mansion and made his way to the bedroom. To his surprise, Buffy was still awake, clearly waiting for him.

"Hey. Sorry to keep you waiting", he apologized, regretting the fact that he let Xander get to him so much. "It's okay, been catching up with my reading", she answered and showed a book she had picked from his collection, he always took a stack of books with him so he would have something to keep him busy during the day hours.

He shed his dusty clothes and climbed to bed. Gently he took the book from her hands and placed it on the night table before claiming her lips with a hungry kiss. He pulled her flush against his skin and deepened the kiss with desperation. Buffy could feel something was wrong cause he was clinging to her like she could disappear at any moment if he let her go. Before all coherent thought vanished from her mind, she decided to talk to him about it tomorrow.

.

When Buffy woke up the next morning, Angel was still asleep. It was rarely that she woke up before him or that he would sleep many hours in one take but he had been emotionally drained that it was no wonder he was still sleeping.

Buffy took a quick shower and pulled on some clothes, she was supposed to go to her mother's house in fifteen minutes. She glanced at Angel's still form before leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to the side of his lips. She placed a letter next to his pillow and sneaked out of the house. She started quickly walking towards her mother's house, she knew she was going to be late but there was nothing she could do about it now. Suddenly she felt a little prick on her arm and the world started spinning immediately. Just as the world started to fade away and her legs give out, she felt a pair of arms circle her body.

.

To be continued...


	8. Kidnapped

**Chapter 8: Kidnapped**

Buffy woke up groggily, her head felt heavy and at first everything was just a blur. She could feel she was laying on something soft but as she tried to sit up, her hands wouldn't move more than few inches. Panic shot through her and she frantically looked around herself. Her hands were tide to the bed with chains and it looked like she was held in some cave that was something between an office and a lab. Her eyes shot to her stomach, the baby seemed to be alright, it was moving and giving her a kick now and then but she couldn't help the fear invading her body. Did someone want to hurt her baby? Or take it away?

Her panicking was interrupted when she saw Riley walk into the room, chills ran down her spine, this was almost as bad as she had imagined. "Hey there sleepyhead", he said and ran his fingers along her cheek lovingly. Buffy turned her head away from him, closing her eyes as if in pain.

"Are you mad at me, sweetheart?" Riley asked with a pout and sat down to the bed, gently taking a hold of her chin and turning her to face him. "I'm not your sweetheart", she spat.

"You're mad at me. Please, don't be. In few days, we will be going to meet my parents. I already told them that they're going to meet their future daughter-in-law, mom burst into tears. They can't wait to meet you, I've told them so much about you." Buffy looked at him like he had dropped from a different planet, was this the man she had once cared about.

"Riley, listen to me. We're NOT together, I'm NOT going to meet you're parents. You're sick, you need help. Please let me go", she pleaded but Riley just shook his head with a smile.

"Don't worry, sweetie, I had my monthly check-up at the Initiative and I'm perfectly healthy. We are going to have many wonderful years together", he said and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Riley, please", Buffy tried again, fighting against the tears but he didn't seem to hear her. "You rest, honey. You look so tired. Once we're married, leave the demon hunting to me, you don't have to worry a thing. You'll be home taking care of RJ and Lisa-Marie", he said and got up from the bed.

"RJ and Lisa-Marie?" Buffy asked scrunching her face in confusion, but after the words left her mouth, she didn't want to know.

"Riley Junior and our daughter, of course. Once we're married, we need to start our own family, no more of that silly slayer business", he said like she had forgotten something essential.

"Riley, please unchain me", she tried again, he was clearly delusional and she was starting to get scared, but the most frightening thought was that this was a human with a soul, a person she used to know and care about. She pulled the chains but they weren't long enough for a good yank.

"You need your rest, go back to sleep", Riley said and walked out of the room. Buffy closed her eyes, fighting against the tears, she didn't want to cry but her new unstable hormones were making it impossible. "Angel", she whispered to herself and let the tears run freely.

XXX

The scooby gang had gathered at Espresso Pump and they had been waiting for nearly half an hour with no sign of Buffy.

"That's it, I waisted a perfectly good lunch hour just to wait for Buffy to show up", Xander said crossing his arms in front of himself. "Maybe something came up... and she couldn't come..." Tara suggested, she didn't like the dark cloud hovering over Xander, it was making her nervous.

"Yeah, I know why she didn't come. Now that Dead Boy can have the happy without turning into murderous psycho, she thinks it's alright to ditch her friends. She already lives in LA with him, you'd think she could spare the time to meet us common folks", he shot angrily and Tara quickly shifted her gaze to the table, pretending to be invisible.

"Well, I for one can understand her point of view. Have you seen the arms and thighs on Angel? I bet he gives great orgasms", Anya commented, making Xander turn sharply to look at her.

"Please, don't talk about Angel's thighs when I'm present", he said and Anya looked at him in question. "Why not? They're very muscular", she said innocently.

"Umm... Let's move on from Angel's thighs..." Willow said awkwardly, quickly blushing. "I think Buffy would have called or something if she couldn't make it, maybe something's wrong", she continued, frowning at the thought.

"I don't think so, she's just ditching us for something else, what else is new. After she got infected with Dead Boy's spawn, it's all about him, but that's how it's always been. It's all about Angel", he stated and the tone of his voice made it perfectly clear what he thought about his friends boyfriend.

"I thought you were happy for her", Willow said confused of his behavior.

"Why would I be happy about it? I may not say anything to her cause you know how snippy she gets about it these days. And how do we know the baby is human? Really, some drunk demon told her and she takes his word for it. I think you should do some kind of spell to show what it really is, I don't want another Angelus loose", Xander said and got up from the table.

"I think you're not being fair, Xander", Willow tried but Xander shook his head.

"I don't think so, I just don't want to be afraid for my life. I think you shouldn't have changed the curse, everything was just fine after he left and Buffy was already over him, Riley was better for her than he ever was, at least we don't have to be afraid he goes psycho on us", he ranted and Willow looked at him in distress.

"You're being unreasonable. Buffy wasn't better after Angel left, she just let us believe that she was fine", she tried but Xander didn't want to listen.

"No, Wills. It would be better on all of us if he'd just stayed in Hell", he stated and left with Anya. Willow sighed in defeat as she watched Xander walk away.

"He's very angry", Tara stated sadly. "He doesn't mean it like it sounded", Willow tried to defend her best friend. Tara nodded in understanding but didn't say anything.

XXX

Cordelia frowned and threw away the fashion magazine she had been reading.

"Why do I even bother, it's not like I can afford those things anymore", she sighed and jumped up to her feet. She moved things around and wiped away imaginary dust. She was bored, she was beyond bored, everything had been so quiet that she had to wonder what she had done with all her time before she moved to LA. She strolled to the table where Wesley and Gunn were sitting, Wesley buried in his books and Gunn polishing his ax.

"I'm bored", Cordelia said with a petulant sigh that soon turned to full scream of agony. She fell down to the floor, clutching her head in her hands. Images flashed in her eyes, cave wall, medical instruments, Buffy chained to a bed, gun shot rang in her ears and she could smell blood. As the vision stopped, she turned to look at the men now crouching in front of her.

"Cordelia, what did you see?" Wesley asked concerned. "Buffy! She was chained in some cave, there was a gunshot and blood, I could smell blood", she answered frantically and started to rise to her feet.

"And why is it that I always find my self from the floor when Angel or Buffy isn't here?!" she added with her hands placed to her hips.

"We should inform Angel", Wesley said and headed to the phone. "You can do that from the car, we're going to Sunnydale", Cordelia stated, her tone was nonnegotiable.

Angel didn't know to worry till it had been more than half an hour later than when she told she'd be home and not long after that, he received a phone call from Wesley that Cordelia had had a vision. He was pacing the room like a caged tiger, all he wanted to do was to sprint outside and find her but it was still daytime and there wasn't a cloud on the sky, so he doubted he'd make it into the woods before bursting into flames.

He growled in irritation and fought against the urge to break something. He stalked into one of the rooms, slamming the door behind him hard and started hitting the punching bag that was hanging from one of the beams on the ceiling. He didn't know how long he had been torturing the bag, all he could think about was that Buffy was in danger, his child was in danger and he was certain Riley had something to do with it, the medical instruments in Cordelia's vision had Initiative written all over it. Riley had to know about the baby, he had been listening to them God knows how long and she was already showing quite obviously. So what did he want, did he want to hurt the baby, make him a project for the Initiative or was he just after Buffy, not caring about the baby. His insides twisted and he hit the bag hard enough to snap the chain, sending it flying across the room. He tried to take long calming breaths but it was no use, he couldn't calm down before Buffy and his child were safe.

His gaze snapped to the door as he heard the sound of a car coming down to the courtyard. With long strides he made his way to the door and opened it, staying away from the light, he waited for the gang come in.

"Finally! By the way you were driving, I thought I'd come seasick!" Cordelia sniped at Gunn as they walked toward the entrance. They were walking all too slow for Angel's liking and he was getting agitated very quickly. As soon as they all were in, he slammed the door closed, startling his friends.

"What's the matter with you!?" Cordelia snapped at him, no matter what the situation was, she wasn't going to take any crap from anyone, not even when the person looked a little too much like Angelus to her liking.

"Tell me everything you saw in the vision", Angel commanded, he didn't have the patience to soothe other people's feelings, he had enough dealing with his own.

"Take a pill, giving me a heart attack isn't going to speed things up", she yelled at him but then softened. "We're all worried but to get her back, we need to keep our heads clear and not go around scaring people with Angelus impressions."

"Sorry", he whispered. "Now tell me everything."

XXX

Buffy's gaze snapped to the door when it opened. Riley walked in with a tray in his hands and he placed it next to her on the bed.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked like everything was just normal. Buffy could see he had just come from the Initiative, he was still wearing the commando outfit and he smelled like sweat, which was making her nauseous, because of the state she was in, she could smell everything better than before, some smells she just couldn't be around and this was one of them. Trying not to heave, she shifted her gaze to the plate.

"Salad and water? Why not just dry bread, that would complete the prisoner look!?" There wasn't even salad dressing on the side.

"I know it's not much, but you need to loose some weight before we're married. You need to eat more healthy, I see you've gained a few pounds", he answered looking at her bump. She couldn't believe him, he thought she was fat, how could he not see that she was pregnant! But his illusion suit her just fine, she didn't know how he'd react if he'd know about the baby and she wasn't going to tell him to find out.

"I'm not gonna marry you, Riley!" she yelled at him. "Honey, it's just cold feet", he dismissed her. He took the water glass and lifted it to her lips. She took a small sip of it and then filled her mouth with it before spitting it to his face. He jumped up from the bed, wiping the water from his face.

"Buffy! Why did you do that for!?" he yelled angrily. "Let me go, you psycho!" she screamed at him but he just stomped out of the room.

"Let me go! Let me go!" she screamed after him but he was gone. She wanted to cry but she wouldn't let herself do that, not because of him, she wasn't going to break. She yanked at the chains hard enough to know her wrists would be full of bruises later, the position she was laying was already uncomfortable and the pain in her wrists wasn't helping any. But she needed to get out, Riley had lost his mind and she needed to eat, something else than few pieces of lettuce. The baby was kicking her, probably demanding food.

"I know, sweetie. Don't worry, I'm gonna get us out of here. And your daddy is already looking for us, I know it", she whispered to her stomach.

XXX

Angel was huddled on the backseat of his car while Gunn drove him to Willy's. As soon as the car stopped, he dashed out of the car and into the dark bar. Everyone turned to look at the newcomer and as soon as he threw the blanket off, everyone started to move towards the exit, they were convinced this was a very pissed off Angelus. Angel stalked to Willy, grabbing him by the front of his shirt, he slammed the barkeeper against the wall.

"Angelus", Willy whimpered in protest. "Wrong guess", Angel answered and let him go, trying to squash the blood lust he was feeling. "Could've fooled me", Willy said and Angel gave him a angry look.

"The Initiative, tell me everything, where they hunt, where they are stationed", Angel demanded and Willy could see this was no time to be evasive. He could see that this time Angel wouldn't save any punches, there would be no pretending to beat the information out of him.

"I don't know much, it's just the things I've heard", he started and covered his face with his hands as Angel's face darkened. "They mostly hunt on campus, that's where people have seen them", he quickly continued.

"What about the labs? Where are they?"

"I don't know. It's government, very hush hush. When my clients manage to escape them and survive the slayer, they don't stick around for long. Why are you after them anyway? I thought you'd be in LA with the slayer", Willy questioned, just realizing it, he had been too surprised and scared after he'd seen very Angelus like Angel, that he hadn't questioned his arrival.

"Because they went after something that is mine", Angel growled causing a cold chill run down Willy's spine. He knew the Initiative had messed with the slayer and he knew how protective the vampire was about her, he couldn't help but feel pity towards the men that had gone after her.

"There's a rumor that the Initiative is situated under UC Sunnydale, or more likely I heard Spike's drunken rambling about it", Willy told him and with a nod, he disappeared to the sewers. Willy let out a sigh of relief, he surely wouldn't want to be one of the guys he was after.

Angel made his way to the college through the sewers, he had long time ago memorized the route, before he had left Sunnydale. He sneaked inside the building and scanned the faces and listened to the voices.

"There's a HST in the building", he heard a man tell to another. "But it's daylight", the other said confused. Angel made his way to them, to his luck they were in an empty classroom. Before either of them could react, he had knocked them both unconscious. He grabbed the other and went back to the sewers, making a call to Gunn to pick him up. When Gunn saw him dragging a unconscious man to the car, he thought it was better not to ask questions.

Angel was getting impatient when the boy wouldn't wake up, he had tide him up into a chair in the wine cellar and after a very long hour, the boy finally started to stir. He opened his eyes and lifted his gaze, his eyes fixing on Angel.

"What's your name?" Angel asked but the man didn't seem to want to answer. "I asked your name", he stated giving the boy a glowering look.

"Graham."

"Well, Graham, here's the deal, I know you're one of the Initiative demon hunter-wanna-bes and now I want to know where Riley Finn is holding Buffy!"

"I'm telling you nothing, demon!" Graham defied with fake bravery, he was scared and Angel could smell it.

"You don't see the whole picture, I need to find her before he hurts her and my torturing skills are really rusty", Angel said seriously staring into Graham's eyes, giving him no doubt that he would dig the information out of him.

"Why would Riley take Buffy?" Graham asked, he couldn't understand the demons motivation in finding the slayer and why would he think Riley had taken her, he knew his friend, sure it had been hard to get over the girl but he wouldn't go so far, besides the girl was living in LA.

"Because he's obsessed with her, he's already been following her around and installed a bug into her room. So start talking."

"I don't know anything."

"I'd hate to hit you, I don't have the time to wait for you to wake up. But if it makes you feel more manly and brave, I could use some hot pokers till you talk", Angel said flippantly and watched the guy pale in front of him. He growled in irritation and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, lifting the man and the chair off the floor.

"I'm on the clock here! This is about more than one life, I personally haven't killed any humans in years so it could take a while. And if anything bad happens to Buffy, your death would take a long while!" he growled angrily and thew the boy down to the floor. Graham watched him in terror, this vampire was stronger, older and more determined than any he had faced before, and he was in his mercy.

"Why should I tell you anything, so you could just kill them?!" he asked angrily and couldn't suppress the yelp as Angel grabbed him and placed the chair back upright.

"I would never hurt her", he said with such honesty that made Graham think that the demon actually meant it. "You know, a hundred years ago I got cursed with a soul by gypsies. But I will forget my rule about not killing humans if something happens to Buffy. Riley isn't stable and there's no telling what he might do to her. So you better tell me where he is or might be holding her!" Graham shivered as he looked into the demons eyes that were full of despair.

"He might be at a cave professor Walsh used as a lab sometimes, it's abandoned. It's near the campus in the forest", he finally answered and the vampire in front of him seemed to visibly relax.

"Thank you", Angel said with a sighed. "I'm sorry about this", he added and punched Graham unconscious.

XXX

Buffy wrapped her fingers around the chain and pulled again. There was a trail of blood moving down her arm but despite the pain, she continued straining the chains. She needed to get out and she would worry about the wounds later. Finally the chain snapped and she sighed in relief. She grabbed the chains on her feet and with two strong pulls, got them free. She hopped down the bed and quietly made her way to the door, warily looking around herself before continuing to another door.

She felt the telltale tingling that Angel was near and a smile rose to her lips, her hand automatically traveled down to her bump and her fingers spread over it protectively. She opened the door and her face broke into a real smile as she saw Angel standing at the cave opening. They started walking to each other but suddenly Buffy was grabbed from behind. Riley's arm circled tightly around her and he pointed a gun at Angel. Angel froze as he saw the gun, bullets couldn't hurt him fatally but they could kill Buffy. Angel growled as he could smell her blood and see the trail of dried blood coming from under the cuffs.

"Don't hurt her", he pleaded, his eyes quickly traveling down to her stomach before darting back to her face. Riley cocked his head to the side in puzzlement and looked at Angel like he had lost his mind.

"I would never hurt her. This isn't for her, this is for you", Riley answered and raised the gun to point it at Angel's heart. "That won't stop me", Angel stated darkly, he was thoroughly considering attacking Riley and snapping his neck. Would he feel guilty, could he live with another life on his conscience? Yes, if it saved Buffy and their baby, he could live with it.

"Yes it will", Riley said confidently and fired, shooting Angel right next to his heart.

"Angel!" Buffy screamed in agony and tried to struggle away from Riley's iron grip that was enhanced by the drugs professor Walsh had been pumping his blood. Angel's knees buckled at the pain but he ignored it and quickly started advancing the man who was holding his lover. Riley shot again and Angel fell down to his knees, groaning in pain.

"Angel!" Buffy screamed again and slammed her elbow to Riley's stomach before smacking him hard enough for him to loose consciousness. She rushed to Angel, dropping down to her knees in front of him. He looked at her sadly, enough to break her heart, right before he fell to the ground unconscious. "Angel", she whispered while staring at the still form of her lover.

.

To be continued...

.

**AN:** In the danger of sounding like a broken record, yet again, THANK YOU to all of you who have been reading this and reviewing, it really does mean a lot to me. And I know, I'm evil, another cliffhanger but I couldn't resist it. And about Xander: I know I've portrayed Xander in bit of a bad light but suddenly I'm having some hostility against him. I liked him a lot back in the day but he really is hostile against Angel (even before the whole Angelus deal and worse after it) so that's reflected on my writing. I'm also packing some resentment on the fact that he told Buffy to run after Riley and practically accused her of making Riley go after vamp whores. And I'm still having some issues with "Kick his ass" being just swept under the carpet. I could make this a full rant easily but I better not.


	9. The Blood

**Chapter 9: The Blood**

Angel started to wake up, he hadn't been out cold for long but it was enough for Buffy to be near panic.

"Angel", she whispered and smoothed his hair back, it was already drenched with sweat. "Buffy", Angel answered with a strangled voice, enough to bring fresh tears into her eyes. 'Damn hormones' she thought as she wiped the tears away and moved closer to him. Suddenly several Initiative men burst into the room. Buffy spun to look at them, her whole being hardening and she gave them one of her death glares that was enough to scare a toughest demon.

"Get the vampire", one of the men ordered but Buffy, despite the very pregnant stomach she had, jumped up to her feet more gracefully than she should have and took a fighting stance.

"Anyone takes a step too close to him and I'll forget the Slayer doesn't kill humans-rule", she threatened and her tone made it very clear she was serious.

One of the men turned to their leader, looking at him as if waiting for an order. "Sir?" he asked uncertainly, he had been present in one of the showings of the film from Buffy's so called demonstration when she had been against several Initiative soldiers and taken them out in less than a minute, he didn't want to fight against the slayer that seemed very serious.

"Leave the vampire, we'll get him later, we don't want to harm any civilians", the man said looking at Buffy, he obviously thought calling her a civilian was a insult.

"Help agent Finn", he ordered and two men went to unconscious Riley, carrying him out of the cave. "This incident will not go unnoticed", the pack leader threatened but Buffy just sent him a cold glare that would strike fear into wise mans heart. The commando squad backed off and left the cave, letting Buffy give Angel her full attention.

"Can you walk?" she asked him and smoothed his hair back before pressing a soft kiss to his clammy forehead.

"I don't know, but I'll try", he said and started to get up stumbling. Buffy helped Angel walk to his car, setting him to the passengers seat as she searched his pockets for the keys.

"Buffy, you're not driving. You're pregnant", Angel protested even though he was barely conscious. "Yes, I am. You're not in any condition to drive or even push a car so that leaves me. So shut up and rest, honey", she answered and grabbed the keys before going behind the wheel.

Buffy sped to the mansion, probably breaking several laws while getting there but she didn't care, all she could see was Angel who was getting weaker by the minute. What ever had been in those bullets, was not good. She stopped the car in front of the mansion, noticing Gunn's truck parked in the front, she ran inside reluctantly leaving Angel into the car. As she ran through the door, the three humans jumped to their feet.

"Buffy!" Cordelia yelped and started towards the anxious Slayer. She stopped as she saw the dried blood on her wrists. "What happened?" Wesley asked the question she was going to ask.

"No time. Angel's in the car, something bad happened. I need help to get him inside", Buffy said frantically and the others followed her outside. She knew she needed all the help she could get, getting his large body into the car from the cave had been draining, she hadn't eaten anything in 24 hours and she was extremely tired, she couldn't sleep while being held captive.

"What happened?" Wesley asked as he saw the barely conscious vampire. "Riley shot him, twice. I think there was some kind of poison in the bullets. Maybe the same that Faith used, I need you to test it", Buffy answered trailing behind them as the two men carried Angel inside.

"Put him into the bedroom", she ordered and quickly walked past them, leaving the bedroom door open and sweeping the comforter off. Gunn and Wesley lowered Angel to the bed and he moaned in pain, causing tears spring into her eyes.

Cordelia walked into the room with medical supplies and grimaced at the sight Angel was making. She handed the items to Buffy and she gave her a barely there smile. "Thank you", Buffy whispered and walked to the bed, sitting next to Angel.

"Could you get a water basin and some cloth?" she requested not taking her eyes off her vampire lover. Cordelia nodded her head, giving the two one last look before hurrying to the kitchen. Angel opened his eyes and gave Buffy a painful smile.

"Hey there", she whispered and wiped the sweat off his face with the sleeve of her shirt. "Hey", he whispered back, his voice hoarse.

"We need to take the bullets out", she stated. She glided her hand over his forehead to his cheek and he stopped her, covering her hand with his and keeping it on his cheek.

"It's poison, I can feel it", he said looking into her eyes with sadness, he knew it was the same poison as Faith had used but he wasn't going to tell that to her since he knew Faith wasn't in town.

"I know", she whispered. "I would have liked to see our child being born", he said and Buffy gripped his shoulder, staring into his eyes.

"And you will! Don't you dare give up! We're going to cure you and you're going to be there to watch our child grow up! I can't do this without you, do you hear me! You're not giving up!" she yelled at him, wanting to shake him till his teeth rattled but she didn't. He didn't say anything and thankfully Cordelia came with the water and pieces of cloth, she placed them to the night table next to the bed.

Buffy unbuttoned the shirt Angel was wearing and grimaced at the angry bullet wounds. She wiped the blood away with wet cloth before grabbing the tweezers and pulling the two bullets out. Angel didn't let out a sound even though she knew he was in great pain. She taped a gauze bandages over the wounds and gave the cup with bullets in it to Cordelia. She scrunched her face in disgust while looking at the bloody bullets.

"Give them to Wesley and tell him to test them right now", she ordered and Cordelia didn't question, just hurried out of the room. Buffy turned to Angel and wiped away the sweat. The whole situation was just painful for her, it brought too many bad memories back, Faith's betrayal, fear of loosing Angel and finally watching him leave. Tears threatened to come but she refused to let them fall. She wasn't going to loose Angel.

XXX

Cordelia was watching Angel while Buffy ate, she was fairly certain she knew what the poison was and what she needed to do. Wesley walked into the kitchen, looking very weary and Buffy could almost read his mind.

"It's the same poison as Faith used, isn't it", she stated, it wasn't really a question and all Wesley could do was nod.

"We need to inform Faith and ask her to come here", Wesley said, removing his glasses and starting to wipe them with his handkerchief, a gesture that reminded her so much of Giles back in the day.

"We can't, she's out of town on vamp business. Even if we caught her, it would take too long for her to come here. There's too much poison, he's slipping faster than he did last time", she said and got up from the table. She walked out of the kitchen with Wesley trailing behind him.

"You can't be considering what I think you are?"

"I don't know what you're thinking but I'm the only Slayer here. So he needs to feed from me", she stated folding her arms in front of her.

"He needs to what?!" Gunn yelped and jumped to his feet, making his way to the Slayer and the watcher. "Angel was poisoned and Slayers blood is the only cure", Buffy explained.

"But what about the other Slayer chick?" Gunn suggested but Buffy shook her head. "She's out of town and we're out of time."

"But Buffy, you're pregnant..." Wesley tried but was interrupted by Buffy. "I'm very well aware of that. But I'm not going to let the father of my child die!"

"Last time he almost killed you", Wesley reminded her and Gunn's head spun to look at her. "Last time!" Buffy just ignored him, looking at Wesley with determination he remembered well from the last time Angel had been poisoned.

"You're going to be there, making sure he doesn't take too much. And that's the end of the discussion", she stated and walked into the bedroom with the two men trailing behind her.

"She's not really going to... you know..." Gunn asked looking at Wesley who just nodded in defeat, he knew very well there was no way to change the Slayers mind. "That's just... nasty." Buffy ignored the two men behind her and sat to the bed next to Angel. He opened his eyes as he felt Buffy's hand trailing on his cheek and he gave her a tired smile.

"Angel. It's the same poison as Faith used. You need to drink from me", she stated, there was no time for running around the bushes.

"No!" Angel yelled as a protest but she showed no signs of backing off.

"Do you want me to beat you up like the last time?! Cause I will!" she threatened.

"She's going to what!?" Cordelia shrieked at the two other men but seemed to calm down when they explained the situation. But it all was just a background noise to Buffy, who stared at Angel with her resolve face intact.

"Last time I almost killed you", Angel protested and tried to get up only to be pushed back down by Buffy.

"And the others are going to be here to make sure you don't take too much. Angel, this is the only way!" She framed his face with her hands and kept him firmly in place, forcing him to look into her eyes. "Angel, I love you. I can't do this without you. I need you here with me, we need you" she spoke in a firm but quiet voice with tears rising to her eyes.

"Buffy", he tried to protest but she silenced him with a slow kiss filled with longing and that was pleading him to do it. She pulled away from his lips and started trailing down his throat before giving gentle bite to the curve of his neck. Even though he was in pain and barely conscious, the bite flamed his desire and made the demon inside him rattle his cage. A low growl escaped his throat and happy that her treatment was working, she did it again. His hand trailed up her back before settling to the back of her neck, his fingers threading to her long hair. She lifted her head before tilting it to the side, giving him full view of her delicate throat. He could hear and smell the blood rushing under the skin and everything in him was rooting for him to sink his fangs into the smooth skin but still he resisted.

"Angel. Drink", she encouraged with her best bedroom voice and he was quickly losing control. Sensing he was still clinging to the small thread of resistance he had, she nuzzled against his neck and giving it a small lick before sinking her blunt teeth into his skin, almost breaking it. He growled and pulled her back, his eyes already glowing golden. She stared into his eyes without any fear and tilted her head to the side, offering herself to him. She watched as his face shifted to his demon visage and he lowered his head to her neck, smelling and licking it before she felt his fangs pierce the skin. She moaned as the pain stepped aside, he pulled her completely into his lap and his hands trailed under her shirt. Her hands found their way to his hair, her fingers wrapping around the short strands and she pulled him closer.

The others were standing by the door watching the play before them with wide eyes. "Is anyone else feeling like we're seeing something we're not supposed to?" Cordelia asked shifting on her feet.

"Hell yeah, I feel like a damn peeping Tom", Gunn stated, he was feeling his blood running to a certain part of his body and it was making him very uncomfortable.

"Maybe I should have warned you that a vampire bite can be very painful but when done in a certain way it can be very... umm... pleasant", Wesley said awkwardly.

"I'm thinking pleasant is a bit of a understatement", Gunn stated and everyones eyes widened even further as they heard the low grunt coming from Angel and the breathy scream of his name from Buffy.

Angel pulled his fangs from her skin and gave it few soothing licks. She loosened her grip on his hair and turned her gaze to his, giving him a lazy smile. "Buffy", he said frantically, ready to apologize and whisk her to the hospital but she shook her head and placed her fingers to his lips, silencing him.

"Don't say it, I'm okay", she whispered and leaned down to a kiss.

"Should we step in or just split while we can?" Gunn asked but it was too late, Angel was pulled out of his haze as he heard his friends voice. He pulled away from Buffy and turned sharply to look at the three people by the door. He wrapped his arms around Buffy as if she had been naked and she turned too look behind her, her eyes widening and her whole face blushing.

"Oh no", she sighed and buried her face into his chest in embarrassment.

"Umm... Since you two are... okay, we're just... going to be in the other room... if you need us", Wesley said awkwardly and started to back away from the bedroom.

"I'm going with English", Gunn stated signing to the door and quickly fled the room.

"Yeah, I'm going with the two cowards, I've had enough voyeurism to last a lifetime. And I'm sending my therapy bill to you two, that was something I could have happily lived without", Cordelia shot at them and left also but keeping her cool, not fleeing like the two men before her.

"Okay, that was something I didn't want them to see", Buffy mumbled against his chest. "Yeah", he agreed with a quick growl, the two men had just heard something no other man had the right to witness.

XXX

Lilah walked into Lindsey's office and sat down to one of the chair. "Again, why am I here?" she asked annoyed and the feeling only increased as Lindsey smiled triumphantly. He took sheet of papers from one of the folders and handed them to Lilah. She looked at the copy of something that looked like a very old text and then turned her cold gaze to the man on the other side of the desk.

"What's this supposed to mean? It's in Sumerian."

"There's a translation on the other paper", Lindsey answered and she uncovered the other page, quickly reading it with a cold smile rising to her lips which quickly disappeared as she turned back to look at him.

"'_The child of a vampire with a soul and the slayer of vampires shall have great importance in the turn of the Apocalypse_'. So the kid is Angel's", Lilah said reading part of the translation.

"Yes, and the script doesn't say which side the kid is going to be in", Lindsey said with a wolfish smile. "Then we better get that kid to our side. What's the status on the mommy?" Lindsey pulled out another file and handed it to her.

"The ex fell over the edge but I've got it under control", he stated and leaned back against his chair. Lilah let out a short laughter at something she had been reading. "Those government operations are so easy to control", she laughed and put down the file before standing up, smoothing down her skirt.

"Our captain America will be put into rehabilitation, under our watchful eye of course", Lindsey said with a smirk and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. "Want a drink?"

"Why not", Lilah answered and he pulled out two glasses.

XXX

Riley was at the infirmary as he woke up. Slowly he sat up on the bed and rubbed his head. He couldn't believe she had hit him, and because of that bloodsucking fiend! Angrily he got off the bed and made his way to the door. He stopped as he heard voices.

"We have orders to put him under psychiatric surveillance. He is mentally very unstable", the doctor said to a nurse who nodded in understanding. Riley was fuming, those traitors. As the doctor and nurse walked through the door, he grabbed them and slammed them against the wall, both falling down unconscious. He pulled on his army gear and sneaked out of the room, making his way to the elevators like he was just going to a mission. He got easily above the ground, now all he had to do was find his girlfriend and kill the beast that was holding her under the influence.

.

To be continued...


	10. Confrontations

**Chapter 10: Confrontations**

Buffy called the scooby gang to gather at the mansion while Angel cooked her a large meal. She hung up the phone and placed it on the table.

"Giles will pick up the others on the way here", she told him and with a nod, he placed a full plate in front of her. She turned to look at him with a frown.

"There is no way I can eat all that", she stated. "Yes, you can. You haven't eaten anything in 24 hours", he insisted.

"I had couple of sandwiches while you were poisoned", she defended herself with a pout but Angel just gave her a pointed look that it wasn't enough. "Fine. But you have to eat too, you're still weak", she said even though he was far from weak, he had just fed from a Slayer and he could still feel the power rushing through him. But not wanting to get into an argument, he took a glass from the cabinet and heated some blood before sitting next to her.

"Happy?" he questioned and she flashed him a quick smile. "Ecstatic", she answered before digging into the food in front of her. Angel was still self-conscious while drinking in front of her but she didn't seem to care, she never really had. He drank down the blood, rinsed it with water and turned to watch as Buffy ate.

"What? Is there something hanging from my chin?" Buffy asked raising her eyebrow as she noticed him staring. He shook his head with a smile.

"No. You're perfect", he answered sincerely, trying not to think about how corny it sounded. She blushed and looked away, she still wasn't used to compliments, not even coming from him.

"You're just saying that because you're afraid of a hormonal slayer", she said but he shook his head and sat next to her.

"To me you are perfect. And I was so scared when he took you. I was so close to loosing control that I'm ashamed of myself. I don't know what I would do if something bad happened to you or the baby", he said and Buffy could see how he was struggling inside. She cupped his cheek and looked straight into his eyes.

"Nothing bad is going to happen. We're gonna deal with this like with everything else", she assured him and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him, nearly lifting her to his lap. She buried her face to his neck and held on tightly, sniffing back the tears. She pulled back wiping the tears with the back of her hand.

"I really hate these mood swings", she sighed.

Thankfully the moment was interrupted when Cordelia stormed in, not looking happy. "Your loser friends are here and if someone doesn't come out there, I just might punch that cheating fashion retard."

"Cordy, please don't call them that", Buffy sighed shaking her head but only received a incredulous look.

"Why? They are", she answered like it was obvious.

"Well, we better face the music", Buffy said and got up from the table. They made their way to the main room where the scooby gang was waiting with Wesley and Gunn.

"Oh dear, what happened?" Giles asked as soon as he noticed the fading scars on her wrists. Buffy had told him very little of why they were coming but she had stated it was important. "Buffy", Willow let out a painful sound as she too noticed them.

"That's part of what I wanted to talk to you about", she answered and signed for them to take a seat. Unconsciously she grabbed a hold of Angel's hand for support. She looked around her nervously.

"Umm... you guys already know Cordy and Wesley. And this is Gunn", Buffy said clearly stalling. "Gunn, these are Giles, Willow, Xander and Anya", she introduced her friends.

"So this is Gunn", Xander stated saying his name pointedly and looked him up and down. "You gotta problem with that?" Gunn asked defensively not liking the scrutiny he was given.

"Oh great, this is all we need", Cordelia griped rolling her eyes. "Lay off, Gunn. It wouldn't be a fair fight, all Xander can do in a fight is scream like a woman", she added.

"Hey! I do not scream like a woman!" Xander defended himself jumping to his feet and pointing at Cordelia accusingly. "Oh please!" Cordelia sighed rolling her eyes.

"Just for your information, I have developed very good fighting skills since we stopped dating." Anya looked at the ex-couple with a frown and wrapped her hands around Xander's arm possessively.

"You can't have him back", she stated vehemently.

"Oh please, like I'd ever want him back. I am dating a film director now", Cordelia answered, throwing her long hair back. "And what kind of films would that be", Xander taunted and it looked like Cordelia was ready to jump him and claw his eyes out.

"Okay, back to your corners", Buffy commanded stepping in the middle.

"She started it", Xander defended grudgingly. "Could you act any more like a five year old?" Cordelia shot from behind Buffy who turned to her with a pleading look.

"Cordelia, please."

"Fine. I'll just ignore his existence. But if I hear any more of his comments, I will retaliate. And you know I can beat him in a fight", Cordelia threatened and Buffy shot Xander a quieting look as she noticed he was ready to protest.

"Children, please, I do believe Buffy invited us here for something other than discussing your former relationship", Giles chided, he did realize they no longer were children but sometimes it was very difficult to remember.

"That wasn't a relationship, it was temporary insanity", Cordelia said with a huff and crossed her arms in front of herself while glaring at Xander.

"Everyone shut up. Why I invited everyone here is because we have a major problem. I was kidnapped. By Riley", Buffy said and got a chorus of What from the scooby gang.

"What you mean kidnapped?" Xander asked. "What do you think?!" Cordelia sniped at him.

"He's dangerous, he's delusional and unstable. I was chained up, hence the scars", Buffy started, showing the fading scars on her wrists. "And when Angel came to save me, he shot him. The bullets had poison in them, the same one Faith used."

"So he bit you! Again!" Xander yelped and everyone shot him a angry glare.

"Not the way you put it!" Buffy said angrily, she knew where this conversation could lead and she wasn't willing to go there. "Anyway, I want you guys to be careful, try to avoid being alone and stay on public places, somewhere you can't be snatched without notice. You need to be careful, he's unpredictable", she warned.

"Is there a requirement to be criminally insane to date you? Does every guy you give the big happy turn into a psycho?" Xander quipped but no one found it funny.

"Xander!" Willow yelped surprised from the joke. Xander noticed that the others were looking at him like he had said something bad.

"What? It was a joke", he said innocently not understanding why everyone had turned against him. "It was a bad one, even I think it's crude", Anya said from next to him.

"Come on. Buffy, you know I didn't mean it in the bad way", Xander said directing to Buffy who was once again hating her new unstable hormones, she quickly wiped the forming tears away and tried to compose herself.

"Yeah, we know. And if it was anyone else saying those things, he'd be flying across the room from my right hook. But just because you're my friend doesn't give you the right to say hurtful things to me", she said calmly and gave Angel a small smile as he took a hold of her hand and gave it a light squeeze.

"Have you told your mother?" Giles asked, going back to the original topic to steer their attention away from Xander.

"We're going to do that this evening, she's at the gallery till seven, so I doubt there's any danger. I just wanted you guys to know, just in case you might come across him. You better watch out for the Initiative guys too, they didn't look happy when I didn't let them have Angel", Buffy answered and the others seemed satisfied with it.

XXX

After sundown Buffy and Angel made their way to the Summers house and immediately they both tensed as they felt someone near.

"Spike", Angel bit out as the blond walked into the light and just casually strolled towards the door. "What are you doing here?" Buffy asked with a sigh and crossed her arms over her belly.

"Sweet Jesus! It is true then, you knocked up the Slayer! Man, you'd be my hero if I didn't hate you so bleeding much", Spike said with a tinge of wonderment as his eyes fixated on her round stomach.

"Spike!" Angel said commandingly but the younger vampire didn't seem to pay attention to him as his eyes were glued to Buffy. Soon he noticed where his grand-childes eyes were fixed and a jealous growl escaped his throat.

"Eyes up, William", he growled and finally got the blonds attention.

"Were you checking out my boobs?!" Buffy asked accusingly after noticing the jealousy radiating from Angel. "Why do you sound so shocked, luv? I'm a guy ain't I and you've filled out nicely", Spike defended himself and got another growl from Angel.

"You're a pig, Spike", Buffy said and self-consciously pulled her neckline up to cover more skin but Spike just smirked. "What are you doing here anyway?" she asked with a frown.

"Met Joyce yesterday while buying some smokes, she invited me for some hot cocoa." Spike looked at Angel smugly. "Must eat you up that her mother likes me more than you." Angel took a menacing step towards Spike but Buffy stepped in between them and gave both stopping glares.

"Enough with the macho act, we have more important things than debate who my mother likes best", she said and Angel gave her a repentant look while Spike just smirked. Angel nodded as a sign he had cooled off and together they headed to the house ignoring Spike who followed them.

As soon as they got to the porch, Buffy stopped dead on her tracks with fear seeping into her body, the door was slightly ajar. They stepped inside, everything looked normal except there was a old men's jacket draped over the stairs railing. Quickly Buffy looked into the living room that she found empty.

"Spike, check the kitchen", she ordered and for once Spike didn't question but headed to the kitchen while Buffy and Angel made their way upstairs.

"Mrs. Summers, I really believe your daughters behavior is because she has lacked a male role model in her life. I don't believe in divorce, my parents have been married for 25 years and I believe me and Buffy will have just as happy marriage. You just didn't think enough about the consequences of your lack of effort in you marriage, Mrs. Summers, every married couple has a little tiff here and there but it's no reason to break up a family", they could hear Riley's voice from the bedroom. With a grim look of determination, she stalked in to her mother's room with Angel following her.

"I'm really considering breaking the Slayer-doesn't-kill-people-rule. I think I'll go with the excuse that rules are meant to be broken. And you went after my MOTHER!" Buffy said barely keeping her cool and restraining herself from leaping across the room and pummeling Riley through the wall. But the gun in his hand kept her from moving, it was pointed at her mother.

"Buffy", Riley said her name with a smile and then seemed to notice Angel and his face twisted in anger. "What is he doing here! That poison was supposed to kill him!" he bit out.

"Well, obviously you missed the page where the antidote was mentioned."

"But only Slayers blood can cure it!" Buffy looked at him like he was stupid and even Angel had to keep himself from rolling his eyes.

"He bit you!" Riley screamed, his voice breaking as he reached too high notes. "Give the boy a prize", Spike said from the door smirking at the commando.

"Hostile 17", Riley bit out as he saw Spike.

"Captain Cardboard", Spike answered like in a B-movie, chuckling at the scene. Buffy noticed that her time had come, Riley was enough distracted that he had lowered his gun and Buffy used the opportunity to attack him. She punched him repeatedly, not giving him a chance to retaliate. She kicked him against the wall next to the window and kept hitting him, but he managed to get a grip from her shirt and loosing their balance, they crashed through the window.

"Buffy!" Angel yelled as he saw them fall through the window and roll down the roof. He jumped through the window but they had already landed on the ground, thankfully Riley's body softening the blow. Riley grabbed a hold of her and threw her off of him, her head knocking against the tree. Angel let out a angry growl and jumped down the roof, not waisting any time as he attacked Riley.

"You went after my mate and my child!" he growled in undisguised fury, his face in full demon form as he mercilessly hit him again and again. Angel didn't give Riley any chances to resist as his fist just kept on landing on his face. But then suddenly with a groan of pain, he stopped and spun around to look at the source of his pain. He growled in anger and was again shot with the electrical guns. He fell to the ground and the men pulled a badly bleeding Riley off the ground.

Buffy had woken up just in time to see the men carry Riley's unconscious body and seeing the men surrounding Angel, she painfully got up to her feet. "If you don't back off, heads will roll", she threatened with a deathly voice.

"Miss Summers", one of the men stated and continued after a dramatic pause. "We have no interest in the vampire. For now. All we wanted was agent Finn. He will be taken into a psychiatric evaluation and after that he will be rehabilitated to be a useful member of society once again."

"I don't care what you do with him but you better move away from my boyfriend right now", Buffy ground out and went to Angel, kneeling beside him while glaring at the men.

"Move out!" the commander ordered and soon the commandos had cleared from the yard.

"You okay?" Buffy whispered the question and lifted his head into her lap. "I'm fine", he answered suppressing the groan of pain that threatened to come. "You're a bad liar", she said, fighting against the tears that were stinging in her eyes.

"You could have helped him!" Buffy said accusingly and turned to look at Spike who was standing in the porch with a cigarette in hand, Joyce never let him smoke indoors.

"And get captured by those poor Sylvester Stallone-clones. No way! Not for you or the poof, no matter how big your knockers have become, blondie", Spike answered and threw the cigarette to the ground before going back in to check if Joyce would still make that coco.

.

To be continued...

* * *

**A/N:** I'm a little disappointed with this chapter, I had some connection issues between my head and my computer.

And some of you wished for Angel to knock Riley around, I believe there was a request for a death too. Hope you're not too disappointed that he's still breathing.


	11. Quiet before the storm

**A/N:** I know, I know, it's been forever (nearly two weeks) since I last updated this fic and I'm sorry. Christmas and New Year have been messing with my schedule but I know it's no a excuse. And again THANK YOU to all readers and special thanks to those who have reviewed.

* * *

**Chapter 11: Quiet before the storm**

When Buffy and Angel explained the situation to Joyce, she was like a broken record, she couldn't believe it. After a while Buffy was starting to get worried about her but she was just stunned, she simply couldn't believe that the nice normal, breathing young man who had been her way to make Buffy normal again, had lost his mind so badly.

"I just can't believe it. I can't believe it", she repeated probably for the tenth time.

"Mom, believe it. Riley is sick, he stalked me, kidnapped me and tried to kill Angel", Buffy said placing a comforting hand on to her mothers shoulder.

"But he was such a nice normal young man", Joyce insisted. "Define normal", Buffy muttered but her mother didn't hear her. There was the magic word, 'normal young man', Buffy knew her mother would rather have her with a breathing nutcase than with Angel but she wasn't going down that road, the night had been traumatizing enough when the perfect son in law had kept her hostage.

"Oh, honey, is the baby alright?" Joyce asked just realizing and she sounded genuinely concerned. Buffy gave her a comforting smile and placed her hands on the bump.

"He or she is alright. Been kicking me like I'm a punching bag", she answered and glanced at Angel whose eyes were fixed on her belly.

"Are you sure?" Joyce asked and Buffy nodded with a small smile, her mother was finally accepting that she was going to have a baby. "Yes, I'm sure."

"Maybe you should see a doctor to make sure", Joyce suggested.

"No, you know how much I hate hospitals, I only go for the check ups. But if it makes you feel any better, I'll ask Willow and Tara make a witchy sonogram", Buffy promised, not mentioning that Angel could hear the baby's heartbeat and had assured her that everything was normal, she didn't want to remind her mother that he wasn't exactly average son in law.

"Joyce, luv, could I get another cup of cocoa? With extra marshmallows?" Spike asked and flashed a charmer smile at Joyce. "Of course", she said, took his cup and went to the kitchen.

"I still can't believe the big poof knocked up the Slayer!" he said as soon as Joyce was out of hearing range. Buffy rolled her eyes and Angel just sent a glare at his way. Angel shifted closer to Buffy on the couch and placed his hand on the bump.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked and smoothed her hair back with his other hand. "I'm sure, we're both alright", she assured him and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

"Oh, come on, you two! You're making me puke. You bloody well know the bint is alright, I can hear two steady heartbeats here and I bet she doesn't get moments peace with you hovering over her."

Buffy turned to glare at Spike. "Why are you still here?"

"Your mum invited me", Spike answered and smirked at Angel, almost as if showing his tongue at the dark vampire.

"What is it with males over hundred years old, do they suddenly come in touch with their inner six year old?" Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes.

"At least I am not jealous of a little boy going after my girl", Spike shot. "I remember a time back in 1882 when you..." Angel started but Buffy stepped in.

"Boys, back to your corners. And Spike, shut up", Buffy said and pointed at Spike as he was about to say something. "What?! I didn't say anything", Spike protested innocently. "You were going to", Buffy shot back and then took a sharp breath.

"What? What is it?" Angel asked quickly getting worried but Buffy just gave him a calming smile before grabbing his hand and placing it to her stomach.

"The baby just kicked. For someone so little, it's strong."

"See, even the kid is on me side", Spike said pointing at her.

"No he's not", Buffy protested. "She", Angel corrected.

"It's a boy, Willow did the ring thing with the belly."

"Come on, Buffy, you can't believe into that stuff", Angel said shaking his head.

"Please, could you two stop, you're making me nauseous."

Joyce walked into the living room and handed the steaming cup to Spike. Angel pulled his hand away from Buffy's stomach and shifted away from her, a gesture that wasn't lost on her. "I'm sorry I took so long, but Cordelia called", Joyce apologized and sat down. "What did Cordy say?" Buffy asked.

"Just asked how things went and when you two are coming back home."

"Are you going to be okay? Should I stay for the night?" Buffy questioned but Joyce just shook her head with a small smile. "I'm fine, honey. You should go to sleep, you look tired", she assured her daughter and patted her hand.

"Are you sure? I could stay to make sure you're okay."

"I'm perfectly fine. I wasn't hurt, just a little startled. And you need the rest, you and my grandchild", she assured Buffy and was rewarded with a huge smile when she mentioned grandchild. She didn't like the idea of Buffy going with the creature she had for a boyfriend but the fact that the mansion housed three other people was comforting.

XXX

Buffy woke up slowly and smiled as she could smell Angel cooking in the kitchen. She got up from the bed and quickly did her morning chores before sneaking into the kitchen. She stopped at the door and leaned to the door frame to admire the view. How could a man be so incredibly sexy while doing something as domestic as whipping cream. Her eyes raked up and down his large form before lingering on the spot where his tattoo was peaking from under his shirt. Her eyes followed his expert moves with keen interest.

Angel turned around and set a full plate on the table. "I was planning on bringing breakfast in bed", Angel stated and Buffy gave him a apologetic smile, failing to look innocent.

"Sorry, but if it helps, I really enjoyed the view", she said and went to the table. "Glad to oblige", he said with a smirk and leaned into a quick kiss. Or what was intended to be a quick kiss, but Buffy grabbed the back of his neck and deepened the kiss. Angel pulled back with a crooked smirk.

"Eat your breakfast", he said and guided her to the table. "Yes, daddy", she said with a cheeky smile and dug into the plate.

"Mom, I'm home!" they heard Faith's voice from the main room. Buffy shot Angel a halfhearted glare. "I knew she would never let me live this down", she grumbled and pointed at her stomach.

"In the kitchen!" she yelled at Faith and soon she strolled through the door.

"So, how is the mama doing?" she asked and grabbed a piece of bacon from Buffy's plate before sitting to the table.

"She's doing just fine aside from a little kidnapping. So how was your trip?"

"Wait a minute, back up, B. You got kidnapped? By who?!" Faith asked waving her finger at Buffy almost as if it would make her confess.

"Riley, he finally snapped. But he's not a threat anymore, the Initiative commando guys took him away, the commander or what ever, said that he's going into psych ward", Buffy assured her but she didn't look satisfied.

"Damn, I would have liked to do a make over his face", she said, then turned to look at Angel. "Or does he have one already?"

"Let's just say he won't be joining any barn dances any time soon", Angel answered deadpanned and placed a plate in front her.

"Wow, he can cook too", Faith stated and dug into the food, moaning at the taste as she stuffed several forkfuls into her mouth.

"Yeah, he's got plenty of talents", Buffy said looking at Angel and Faith chuckled loudly. "I didn't mean it like that", Buffy protested and looked at Faith embarrassed, only making her laugh louder.

"Okay, now that we have had the Buffy with a foot in her mouth, we can go back to business. Faith, I need you to be careful with the Initiative, I don't think we're on their friends list anymore", she continued more seriously.

"I know. I don't like those guys either, playing here and pretending to be better than us just because they have weapons with batteries."

"Yeah, that bugged me too", Buffy conceded and frowned at the memory. Faith scraped her plate clean and leaned back on her chair looking satisfied.

The door swung open and Cordelia strolled in, only sparing a quick glance at Faith before ignoring her. "So, when are we leaving? The boys and I want to know when we're leaving Sunnyhell? After the show you two put up, they're too awkward to ask themselves", she went straight to the point in her usual manner.

"It looks like I missed something. Did you two get it on in front of the kids?" Faith smirked and gave Buffy a mischievous wink. "Faith!" Buffy cried out.

"They just did the bloodsucking thing without the gross factor. Well, less gross. I really could have lived happily without witnessing it", Cordelia explained and sent both Buffy and Angel an accusing stare.

"What happened?" Faith asked not understanding what Cordelia was saying. "Riley poisoned Angel", Buffy answered not wanting to elaborate further, she was still sore that Faith had tried to kill Angel and despite their current relationship, she couldn't remember the night without anger.

"With the same poison you used", Cordelia shot and gave Faith one of her cold looks. "Oh", Faith breathed out looking guilty before shifting her gaze to Angel.

"You okay, big guy?" she asked with badly disguised regret in her voice. "I'm fine, Faith", Angel assured her. As if just realizing what Cordelia had been talking about, Faith's eyes shifted to Buffy's neck but she didn't say anything.

"I knew coming here was a bad idea, Sunnydale is nothing but trouble", Cordelia stated melodramatically. Buffy just rolled her eyes and decided to change the subject away from the morbid memories of almost loosing Angel.

"Why don't we go to the main room, Willow and Tara are coming any minute now to do the witchy ultrasound on the baby", Buffy said and got up from the table. "Is it alright? Did the psycho hurt the baby?" Faith asked concerned but Buffy just shook her head.

"It's just a precaution, I really hate hospitals so Willow is the next best thing. Besides, I am sure there's nothing wrong, he's been kicking me on regular basis and Angel hasn't heard anything not normal. He's been nearly living with his ear on my stomach for the last 24 hours."

"No, I haven't", Angel tried to defend himself but in vain. "Yeah, right", Cordelia snorted, then seemed to think of something with a frown appearing to her face. "Xander's not coming, is he? I don't think I can handle him without hitting him."

"No, just Willow and Tara", Buffy assured her.

As the group moved to the main room where Wesley and Gunn were debating on weapons. "I tell you, that ax is too awkward to be efficient on a hunt", Wesley insisted and pointed at the large ax Gunn was holding.

"You're wrong, English. This can cut a Xyrhlaz demons neck clean off. Can you say the same for your little..." Gunn retaliated but then noticed they had company. His eyes quickly snapped to the door where Willow and Tara stepped in, giving him and Wesley a shy smile and then his gaze traveled to Faith who was measuring him with her eyes.

"And who is this, I don't think we've been introduced", she drawled, making the whole group except Gunn roll their eyes.

"This is Gunn. Gunn, Faith", Buffy introduced them and then turned to Faith looking serious. "Don't hit on him", she ordered.

"Why not? He's hot", Faith asked again raking her eyes up and down Gunn's body with a small smirk playing on her lips. "Faith."

"Okay, mom. I'll play nice with the other kids", Faith said without loosing the smirk. Buffy looked heavenwards and made her way to the two witches.

"Hey." "Hey, Buffy", the two women said almost in sync. "So, do you want to do it now. It's really easy spell, just little ointment, some chanting and we should see how the baby is feeling. If it is successful, there should be this little misty cloud floating around your belly, stating how it's feelings. You know, dark blue if it's sad, black if it's angry", Willow stopped for a moment and seemed to think with a frown.

"Do baby's get angry? You would think they don't have any reason to be angry." She glanced around herself and fought not to blush. "Okay, moving on. You understand where I'm getting to", she finished and Buffy gave her a assuring smile.

"Yeah, I get it. Dark cloud – angry baby. Let's do it in the bedroom, I don't feel like stripping", Buffy said and glanced at Angel who started to look growly. A smile tucked at her lips, he was so cute when he was jealous, even when there was no reason to be.

"Faith, behave", Buffy said to her sister slayer before leaving the room.

XXX

Willow and Tara performed the spell and they got the conformation that the baby was alright. After the two witches left, Buffy visited her mother, making sure that she was going to be fine since she had to return to LA.

Buffy walked through the door and came face to face with Cordelia who had placed her hands on her hips and was tapping her foot. "Are we leaving yet? This town gives me the creeps and I'm bored." "We're leaving tonight", Buffy answered but Cordelia didn't seem yet satisfied with the answer.

"Right after sundown, the moment it's dark enough for your hubby not to become a human torch, we're out of here", she said leaving no room for negotiation. Buffy raised her hands in surrender and started to say something when Cordelia staggered back and clutched her head, screaming in pain. Buffy jumped forwards and grabbed her, keeping her from falling to the floor.

"Angel!" she yelled, then turned her attention back to the woman in front of her. The pain seemed to subside and slowly Cordelia opened her eyes.

"A really big, gray demon and what looked like a Wolfram & Hart sign", Cordelia told her. The men rushed into the room and with Angel's help, Buffy guided Cordelia to the couch. "Wes, get her meds", she ordered and sat down next to Cordelia.

"Cordy, are you alright?" Angel asked tentatively and Cordelia shot him a annoyed look.

"I just had a vision, my head feels like it's splitting in two. No, I'm not alright."

"Well, when you get your pills, give Wes the description, we'll do some research here before we can go back to LA. That will teach you not to complain boredom", Buffy said and earned a glare from Cordelia.

.

To be continued...


	12. The wind picking up

**A/N: Thank you** to all the readers and extra thanks to those who reviewed! I'll try to improve my updating rate, I know it's been a bit slow lately.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 12: The Wind picking up**

The group left Sunnydale right after sundown and after they dropped Cordelia to her apartment, they went back to the Hyperion where Wesley made a straight line to his books. Reluctantly Buffy grabbed a book and started going through the possible demons from Cordelia's vision. They had taken a head start in Sunnydale but not managing to find the specific demon.

After two hours of reading a book after book of endless stream of demons, she was tired. With a sigh she slammed the book closed and got up from the table to get another book. She made her way to the office where Wesley was surrounded by books.

"I love my books", he stated to himself and a smirk rose to Buffy's lips, he wasn't aware of her presence in the room. "We all know that all ready", Buffy said from the door and Wesley jumped in surprise.

"Umm... I just meant that my books are much more helpful than those in Sunnydale", Wesley explained somewhat embarrassed and received a amused 'we believe you'-look. "Well, I have narrowed our suspects to two species, a Grezzler-demon and Na'an-Xurr. Neither option is preferable", Wesley informed her going back to business.

"So what's the what with these things? Why is neither of them preferable?" she asked and walked behind him, peering over his shoulder to look at the books spread on the desk. Wesley removed his glasses and started cleaning them with his handkerchief, a gesture that reminded her of Giles. After a while he put them back on and spoke.

"Well, the Grezzler demon is very powerful but it's all brawn, no brain. They are usually just tools used by more clever demons, they are quite rare but hard to kill because they cause tremendous rage in anyone who possesses a soul."

"And that's bad", Buffy stated with a frown.

"I would certainly say so. But Na'an-Xurr is very much a thinker, they have been recorded to accomplice very complex strategies to cause destruction. But the good news is that they don't have much muscle power, and the bad news is that they use strong minions to do their dirty work. They are quite dangerous."

"So which ever it is, it's bad. We can't fight the grizzly things with a soul and the anaconda has minions, which considering our luck, could be one of those grizzlies."

"Quite right. And it is Grezzler demon, not grizzly. But now that we have determined what kind of a demon might be in question, all we have to do is to find out which one is it and what is the connection with Wolfram & Hart", Wesley said and again pulled his glasses off and started polishing them.

"Piece of cake. We'll just stroll into the law firm and ask them nicely if they have any evil plans involving grizzly or anaconda demon. I'm sure they'll tell us right away so we can stop them", Buffy said with sarcasm dripping from her voice and Wesley sent her a exasperated look. "There is no need to be biting", Wesley chastised.

"Well, I say we pay Lilah and Lindsey a visit and ask nicely", Angel said from the door, making them spin around to look at him.

"And they're gonna just tell us?" Buffy asked with a raised eyebrow. "I can be very persuasive", he answered with a smirk.

"I bet you can be. But I'm coming with", Buffy said and Angel turned serious. "No you're not", he protested.

"This argument is getting old. I'm coming. I'll wear my baggier clothes to conceal the pregnancy. I'm coming with you and that's it." She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him, challenging him with her eyes. Angel opened his mouth to protest but closed it as Buffy raised a silencing hand at him.

"You're not going to win an argument against a pregnant slayer", she stated and he didn't look happy.

"You are one stubborn woman", he griped.

"And you're a pigheaded man", she shot back with a smirk. With few steps she was in front of him, she reached up and ran her hand over his forehead. "But I like your big head", she said with a small smile. He placed his hand over hers and drew it to his lips, placing a soft kiss to her knuckles.

"I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm not going to get hurt. There is nothing more dangerous than a pregnant slayer, there is no way I'm letting anything happen to our baby. And if I get tired of fighting, I'll just sit on them", she assured him, adding the last part with a smirk.

He shook his head and glanced heavenwards before directing his eyes back to hers. "Your not that heavy", he stated and bend his head to kiss her. But he stopped as Wesley cleared his throat loudly. The couple turned to look at their friend who was directing his gaze away from them, clearly embarrassed.

"Sorry Wes, we'll try to behave", Buffy said with a amused smile.

"Please do", Wesley requested and once again started to clean his glasses.

XXX

Buffy moaned as Angel gently massaged her lower back, she had mentioned her back ached and only seconds later he was relieving the pain. "That feels so good", she breathed out and closed her eyes.

"Does it still hurt?" he asked against her ear, his cool breath sending shivers running through her. "That's a definite no", she answered with a small smile playing on her lips, but she still didn't open her eyes.

Finally she pried her eyes open and they landed on the clock. "Angel, I have to start to get ready, I'm meeting Christian in half an hour", she said reluctantly but he showed no signs of stopping.

"Angel, I'm serious", she tried to protest but lost herself in the sensation he was creating. His lips descended on her neck, gently nipping at his mark and causing her moan softly. His arms circled around her as he kept suckling on the sensitive skin and he let out a sound of protest as she turned around in his arms.

"You're evil", she accused him and gave him a halfhearted glare. "But you love me anyway", he smirked. She rolled her eyes before grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him into a passionate kiss.

"I'm gonna be late", she mumbled as the last coherent thought. "He can wait", he said and deepened the kiss. He pulled her body tightly against his and gently laid her down to the bed while his lips traveled down to his mark, making her forget all about Christian and everything else except him.

XXX

Buffy was twenty minutes late for her lunch with Christian but since he had to return to work, they didn't have a very long meeting, which was just fine with Buffy since she and Angel had few lawyers to see. Buffy returned to the hotel where Angel was ready to go.

They made their way through the tunnels to the law firm and sneaked inside, although Angel knew his presence was already known because of the vampire detectors. When the elevator door opened, they were faced by three guards armed with night sticks. Before they could move, Buffy kicked one of them across the hallway and attacked another while Angel hit the other. In seconds, all three guards were laying unconscious on the floor.

"A welcoming committee, that's nice of them", Buffy stated looking at the men.

"They're very considerate here."

They started walking towards Lindsey's office and just as they were ready to step in, Angel heard several voices and footsteps closing to the door. He glanced at Buffy and pulled her into hiding as Lilah opened the door and turned to address to the people still in the room.

"Take care of it, Lindsey", she said coolly and closed the door before he could respond. She started walking down the hallway and the couple discreetly followed her.

"I'm gonna follow her and you're gonna talk to the guy with a girls name", Buffy said and gestured at the lawyer. "Buffy..." he started to protest, he didn't like the idea of her going after Lilah alone and especially while expecting his child.

"Angel, where she is going, you can't follow", she said pointedly and Angel turned to look, seeing Lilah step into the ladies room. He turned back to Buffy who gave him a amused smile and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before starting to move towards the bathroom. "Go talk to the guy, we don't got all day", she said and turned to walk into the room. Angel sighed, she could be so stubborn sometimes.

He turned around and walked into Lindsey's office, slamming the door into a security guard as he opened it. He grabbed the other two and knocked them against each other, letting the two unconscious men fall to the floor before turning to Lindsey.

"Hello, Lindsey. You guys really should consider hiring better guards", he said looking at the three unconscious bodies. "Thanks for the advise", Lindsey answered dryly.

"But really, as fun as this is, this isn't a social call", Angel said and started approaching the lawyer. "Rumor has it that you..." he started but noticed something that shouldn't have been in the room. He felt rage bubbling inside of him and a angry growl escaped him. Before he even noticed it, he had jumped across the room and had Lindsey pinned against the wall.

"You've been near Buffy", he ground out and tightened his hold on his throat, reminding Lindsey all too much of Angelus. He tried to gasp for air but the crazed vampire was squeezing his throat so hard that he feared it would snap at any moment.

"I warned you to stay away from her, boy", Angel growled and saw the terror flash in Lindsey's eyes. Lindsey wasn't so sure anymore if this was Angel or Angelus, he remembered the night Angelus had told him to stay away from Buffy and he still didn't understand why Angelus let him live but looking into the vampire's eyes he was sure he wouldn't be as lucky this time. His last thought was that if Lilah got the promotion, he was going to come back and haunt her.

Angel's head started to clear as he watched Lindsey's body drop to the ground, for a while he just stood there listening till he got confirmation that Lindsey was still alive, although barely breathing. Quickly Angel strode off the office and made his way to the bathroom. As he stepped through the door, his eyes landed on Buffy who was keeping Lilah pinned down against a cracked mirror.

"Buffy", he whispered, he could feel the rage bubbling inside of him but he tried to fight against it. "Hi honey, Lilah and I were just having a friendly chat", Buffy said with a sardonic smile. Angel's eyes shifted to Lilah who was bloody but angry, she elbowed Buffy to the stomach and Buffy staggered back. Angel let out a angry growl and with two long strides he was in front of Lilah and he threw her across the room to the wall.

With the last straw of reason, he grabbed Buffy and lifted her into his arms before fleeing the room. Buffy was struggling the whole time, trying to free herself from his arms and go after Lilah but as they got farther away, her protests settled down. "Angel", she whispered and looked at him with clear eyes. Angel smiled softly and put her down to the ground.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his hands drifting to her stomach and his ears concentrating on listening the heartbeats of his lover and their child. To his great relief both were beating steadily.

"I'm fine, we're fine. But if you hadn't come there, I could have killed that bitch", Buffy said first calmingly and then growing frantic as she thought of the possibility that she could have killed a human.

"Sweetheart, it's alright, you didn't kill her", he assured her and pulled her into his arms before pressing a soft kiss to her head. "At least now we know which demon it is", Buffy grumbled not happy about it.

XXX

"You are certain it was Grezzler demon", Wesley asked for the second time. "Yes, we are sure", Buffy sighed tiredly.

"I couldn't control myself, I felt this rage inside me that I couldn't stop. When I smelled Buffy's scent on Lindsey, I completely lost it, I'm lucky I didn't kill him", Angel said looking away in shame.

"You smelled my scent on him? But I've never met the guy." She tried to think where she could have been so close to a evil lawyer that her scent would stay on him but she hadn't met anyone except Christian.

"A person doesn't need to be in contact with the subject for his or hers scent to catch on the clothes, it is possible he was somewhere near where you were, sitting next to you perhaps", Wesley stated and Buffy tried to rake her brain to remember where she could have seen him, but nothing came.

"I think we should worry about Lindsey after we deal with this Grezzler thing. Lilah was nice enough that she sang like a bird after I pummeled her a little. The plan is to set riots, all over the city", Buffy said.

"But how do we kill it? When I was in that office, I felt the demon near me, I couldn't control myself and I nearly killed Lindsey. If I go after it, I might hurt someone else besides the demon."

"Same with me, first I was just exchanging insults with Lilah and suddenly I just wanted to kill her."

"The nearer you are to the demon, the more affect his power has on you. I don't know how either one of you could fight the thing because in hand to hand combat, I don't believe you would have much clear judgment", Wesley stated and tiredly removed his glasses before starting to clean them. "Who do we know that doesn't have a soul but would be able to help?" Wesley asked thoughtfully and put his glasses back on.

Both Buffy's and Angel's faces crumbled and they turned to look at each other, their looks telling that they had the same thought. "Spike", Angel said and grimaced.

"Spike? Are you sure he would help, and more importantly, can we trust him?" Wesley asked like it was the most ridiculous idea he had ever heard.

"Now that he's chipped, he vents the lack of hunting into meaningless violence", Buffy explained but Wesley didn't look too convinced. "In this situation, what options do we have?" Angel said pointedly, he didn't like the idea of asking Spike for help or being anywhere near his grandchilde, but their options were limited.

"I'll call Faith", Buffy sighed and went to the phone. She dialed the number and waited for an answered but there was none. She glanced outside the window, the sun had just set. "I guess she's gone to Bronze or patrolling. I'll call her again later", Buffy stated.

XXX

Buffy woke up as Angel sneaked back into their room, she was still dressed in her day clothes and held the phone in her hand. "Faith!" she exclaimed and quickly dialed the number without remembering to look at the clock.

"Hello", came the sleepy response from the other end. "Sorry, did I wake you?" Buffy asked grimacing as she turned to look at the clock.

"You did, but I was about to get up anyway. What's the occasion?" Faith said and rose to sit against the headboard.

"We need help, Spike's to be exact. There's this demon that makes you all loony and violent except if you don't have a soul. It's planning on causing riots all over L.A and me or Angel can't kill it without getting all raging loony... So Spike is the only one we know that likes the unnecessary violence for fun, plus knowing him we have to pay him..." Buffy explained and quieted as she realized she was babbling. "Okay, so could you tell him to drag his undead ass here", Buffy went straight to the point and earned a questioning look from Angel who had just stepped into the room wearing just a towel loosely hanging around his hips.

"Sure, I'll look him up and tell him to go there. When do you need him?" Faith asked on the other end but Buffy was having hard time concentrating on her words as her eyes raked over Angel's still moist body.

"Umm... yeah, as soon as possible", Buffy said to the phone realizing that Faith had asked her a question.

Faith chuckled. "What's going on in there?" she asked with a crooked smile.

"Umm... It's just my sleepy head, I'm a little scatterbrain when I wake up in the middle of the night... morning... whatever", Buffy clumsily explained forcing herself to look at something else than the beautiful man in the same room with her. Her eyes found his face and she shot him a halfhearted glare as he seemed to be smirking at her. She threw a pillow at him but he dodged it easily. He shook his head like a dog and with few long strides he was by the bed. He leaned over her placing his hands on both sides of her head and he nuzzled against the crook of her neck.

"Faith, I gotta go. There's a wet vampire dripping water all over me", she said to the phone, trying to keep her voice steady.

Faith chuckled and shook her head in amusement. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do", she said to the phone before hanging up. She turned to her side and poked Spike to the ribs before kicking him under the sheet. He let out a very human like growl and turned to look at her annoyance clear on his face.

"Wha?!"

"Get your ass back to your crypt before the sun comes up and fries your ass. And after it's playtime, head to LA. Buffy called that they need your help", she said.

"And what makes you think I'm just gonna jump in to my car and race to the slayers rescue? I'm not her lapdog, you know", he griped while getting off the bed and pulling his pants on.

"Don't kid yourself. We both know when B tells you to jump, you make a sarcastic quip and ask how high", Faith smirked and got a insulted look from Spike which made her even more amused.

"Hey! I'm nobody's flunky!" he protested and Faith rolled her eyes.

"Keep telling yourself that. But you're just as whipped as Angel."

"Don't compare me to that ponce." Faith rolled her eyes again, men were so fragile. She got up from the bed, not even bothering to cover herself as she started picking up her clothes from the floor. Spike's eyes roamed all over her body, turning his eyes darker from lust.

"Hey, my eyes are up here and we don't have time for another round, the sun is coming up soon and this building doesn't have a tunnel access, that's why B picked it", Faith reminded him, men were so easy.

"Are you coming to LA too? You know, you could keep me company during the long day hours", Spike suggested raising a scarred eyebrow at her.

"No, I'm not. I'm being a good little slayer and looking after the Hellmouth till B comes from the mommy leave. Hey, why didn't you wake up when she called, are you so confident in slayers presence that you can sleep through anything? Man, I must be loosing my touch."

"I beg to differ, luv", Spike cooed and took a step closer to the younger slayer.

"Run along now, I'll see you when you get back from LA", Faith shot him down and gently pushed him away towards the door.

XXX

"Shouldn't Spike be here already?" Angel griped looking at the clock again. "Maybe that lump of metal car broke down", Buffy suggested.

"Oi, no mocking my car!" came Spike's voice from the door. "Took you long enough", was Angel's answer.

"What do you think I am, your dog that can be just told to jump?"

"Come here, Lassie", Buffy said mockingly and Spike shot her a glare. "Watch your step, girly. It is you who needs me, not the other way around", Spike told her trying to sound like the old Spike, the one without the damn chip in his head.

"Come on, we pay you couple hundred bucks and you get some brutal violence without your skull cracking from pain, what are you complaining about?" Buffy shot back and Spike seemed to brighten immediately as the money was mentioned.

"Okay, we found the place where the demon is hiding. Remember, the thing is strong so don't get stupid", Angel said knowing full well that Spike's style was to go head first and think later. He handed Spike the piece of paper where the driving instructions were and the younger vampire just glanced at it before stuffing it to his pocket.

"I want my money now", Spike demanded. "Half now, half later", Buffy stated in a tone that told there was no negotiation. She handed the money to Spike who mumbling something counted them before stomping away without saying anything to the couple.

"What's his problem?" Buffy asked as she watched the blond disappear through the front door. "I don't want to know", Angel answered.

"So, wanna go patrolling?" Buffy asked with a smile. "Buffy, are you sure you should?" Angel asked doing his best not to sound condescending.

"I promise I'll be careful. Besides soon I'll be too big to hunt so that will make you happy", Buffy answered and a smile rose to Angel's lips as he thought of the child growing inside her. "Oh, I can't wait", he said and placed his hand on her bump.

"You'll be eating those words. And growing bigger is not something I'm looking forward to", Buffy said and placed her hand over his.

"What if we skip the patrol tonight? I'll make you a nice warm bath and volunteer to wash you back", Angel suggested with a raised eyebrow. A smile rose to Buffy's lips but she shook her head sadly.

"As tempting as that sounds, the slayer in me is going to bouncing off the walls soon. But I'll take up on your offer after we get back", she answered and he seemed satisfied with her answer.

"We better make it a quick sweep", he said against her ear and pulled her into a kiss that was full of promises and left her breathless. "Oh boy", she whispered.

XXX

Three hours later Buffy and Angel were sitting in the office, both sharpening their weapons in perfect synchronization, mirroring each others moves. Their attention went to the lobby as they heard the door open and close followed by almost soundless footsteps. They both grabbed their weapons and made their way to the door.

"Nice evenin', isn't it", Spike said and slammed the demons head on the reception desk. Buffy grimaced and turned to glare at Spike. "That's disgusting."

"What? It's just a head. It's not like you haven't done some chopping in your time. I'm planning on putting this baby on the wall, I'm still decorating my crypt", Spike said and lifted the head by the few black hairs it had. "So where's the money?" he demanded and Buffy couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Here", Angel said and thrust the bills into Spike's free hand. He did quick counting and glanced at the clock.

"As fun as it's been, I'm heading off, don't fancy frying in the sun."

"If it's cutting close, you could stay in one of the rooms till the evening", Buffy without believing she had just suggested Spike of all people could stay with them a whole day. What was happening to her? She just decided to blame the hormones. Spike quirked a scarred eyebrow and let out a amused chuckle.

"Tired of the poof already?"

Buffy sent him a full glare. "You're disgusting."

"Well, as much as you want me to stay, I have a date I plan on keeping."

"You? Have a date?" Buffy asked skeptically. "What? I'm a healthy man in my prime", Spike said somewhere between bragging and being defensive.

"Spike, you're dead and you're over hundred years old, I wouldn't call that young and healthy."

"Says a girl who was knocked up by a 240+ years old walking dead", Spike shot back.

"You leave Angel and our baby out of this", Buffy said ready to attack and Spike was starting to think it was not wise getting into a argument with a pregnant slayer.

"Hold your hormones, blondie. I'm going before your mood swings tell you to stake me", Spike said raising his hands in surrender, the head still tangling in his other hand. Buffy grimaced as a big splotch of something gray dropped to the floor from the head.

"You better start going before I wipe the floor with your peroxide dipped head", Buffy threatened. "Alright, alright. Have a nice day too, bitch", Spike answered and fled the hotel.

"That's really disgusting", Buffy stated looking at the green goo on the floor. "Yeah, it is", Angel conceded and glanced at the clock. "But I'll clean it tomorrow. It's late, you should be in bed."

"Only if you're there with me."

"You talked me over", Angel said with a crooked smile and bent down in to a quick kiss. He took a hold of her hand and led her to their bedroom where he slowly removed her clothes before taking off his. They went to bed and he pulled her close against his body, he nuzzled against her neck and pressed a soft kiss to the crook of her neck before closing his eyes.

"The whole Lindsey smelling thing still bothers me", Buffy said quietly, her eyes were closed and she was content in his embrace but she couldn't sleep.

"It bothers me too, I don't like him being anywhere near you", he confessed and tightened his hold around her. "I haven't even ever met the guy", Buffy stated.

"You have."

"When?" she asked truly puzzled and turned around in his arms to face him.

"When I was Angelus, you were in Caritas. Lindsey tried to hit on you but you shot him down. Angelus had a run in with him after that", Angel answered feeling uncomfortable reminding of the time but Buffy was more concentrated in trying to remember a guy that had tried to feed her lines, she could barely remember it happening.

"Why didn't Angelus kill him?" Buffy asked, another question that puzzled her.

"He was going to but..." Angel started to answer but didn't know how to continue, he truly didn't like talking about the time, any of them, when he was Angelus. "But?" Buffy encouraged.

"But you were his priority. He was going to mentally torture him, later literally but at the moment he wasn't important, you were", he answered and closed his eyes in shame. He felt Buffy cup his cheek and he opened his eyes.

"Angel, don't blame yourself of the things he did. I don't feel any less for you just because of the things your demon did, you had no control over it. I love you no matter what, don't you ever forget it", she assured him and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

"I love you too, forever", he promised smoothing her hair back. She smiled at him but then the smile disappeared and her eyes widened as the memory hit her, she could remember the guy in Caritas.

"Oh God", she whispered.

.

To be continued...


	13. The storm

**A/N:** I know I've been cruel with the cliffhangers lately, hope you guys forgive me. And once again, despite sounding like a broken record, Thank you very much for the reviews.

* * *

**Chapter 13: The Storm**

The team was sitting in Angel's office, Buffy looking depressed and everyone's eyes fixed on her. "Let me get this straight, this Christian guy you befriended, he's our very own evil lawyer in Wolfram & Hart", Cordelia summed up what Buffy had told them.

"Yeah", Buffy sighed and brooded some more, doing her best Angel-impression.

"Then it's good thing I didn't talk you over to fix me up with him. Or would it have been a good thing since I would have known who he is and..." Cordelia drifted off.

"Does he know about... your condition?" Wesley questioned, uncomfortably signing to Buffy's stomach.

"I don't know, it's not like I bothered to hide it when I met him but I never told him. But..."

"Evil lawyer and everything", Cordelia finished for Buffy who nodded in confirmation.

"I believe it would be safe to say that they know of Buffy's pregnancy. But why haven't they done anything about it, you'd think that such a extraordinary occurrence would rouse their attention", Wesley said thoughtfully, removing his glasses and just fiddling with them.

"I'm thinking they wanted to sneak in under the radar", Gunn said, turning everyone's attention to him. "I was thinking that too", Angel confirmed glumly.

"I think I want to stake him", Buffy grumbled under her breath.

"Buffy, despite the fact that he works for a evil law firm, he is still human, corrupted but human", Wesley chided and everyone shot him a weird look. "Oh, you weren't serious", he said embarrassed and removed his glasses, starting to clean them.

"About wanting to stake him or actually staking him?" Buffy questioned and started pouting as Angel gave her a chiding look. He felt like a hypocrite as it took all his willpower not to jump to his feet and hunt down Lindsey McDonald and skin him alive for putting that hurt look on his mates face.

"Angel, you're doing the growly thing again", Buffy whispered to him and then he noticed the slightly frightened looks everyone were sending his way, he hadn't even noticed that he was growling deep in his chest just from thinking about Lindsey.

"Are you evil?" Cordelia demanded giving him a hard look. "I'm not evil", Angel answered but Cordelia didn't look convinced.

"I'm not evil!" he repeated.

"It's a vampire thing. He's just jealous", Buffy explained.

"I'm not jealous", he grumbled.

"Sure you're not", Cordelia said like talking to a child.

"I'm not!"

"We believe you", Cordelia conceded and all but gave him a pat to the top of his head.

"How about we concentrate on the matter at hand", Wesley interrupted. "Now that we know, what are we going to do about it?"

"I say we go and kick his ass. Gunn and Angel can hold him while I kick him with my new high heels", Cordelia said passionately and Buffy couldn't help but laugh.

"As good as that sounds, I think we need something little less..." she left the sentence hanging in the air. "Anyway, I just want to look him in the eye when it all goes down."

XXX

"Hey there", Lindsey said as he walked to the table Buffy was sitting in. "Hey", she answered lifting her gaze to his and offering him a smile that was hard to form on her lips.

"I was surprised to hear from you", he said as he sat down to the table. "Why?" Buffy asked innocently raising her eyebrow.

"Well, you said you'd be busy yesterday when I called and you were in a hurry to get off the phone."

"Oh, it got canceled", Buffy said dismissively. "I just thought I'd talk to my friend, Cordy's so busy today, so I figured why not catch up with you. So how's the album recording going?"

"It's going well, almost finished."

"Maybe you could get me a cd before it's out, I haven't heard you singing", she suggested and watched as he shifted uncomfortably but changed the movement into just trying to get more comfortable on his seat.

"Yeah, maybe I could."

"Want some coffee? I was thinking you and Angel could meet today since we've been trying to arrange it for some time", she suggested innocently, she watched him under her lashes, noticing his pose stiffening.

"Sorry, I can't tonight", Lindsey apologized. "Oh, it's okay, he's trying to make it here now", Buffy waved it off smirking inside, struggling not to let it show outside.

"I can't stay long, I have a meeting with my manager", Lindsey stated apologetically and stood up with Buffy following him.

"Oh? You're always going to a meeting or something when I suggest you'd meet Angel. It almost looks like you don't want to meet him, Lindsey", Buffy said pronouncing his name pointedly. Lindsey froze and turned to look at her, trying to remain as calm as he could. She was staring straight into his eyes, her eyes betraying nothing, this wasn't the girl he had got to know, this was the slayer.

"So you know", he stated calmly, something he wasn't feeling on the inside.

"Yeah, I know", Buffy answered grimly, folding her arms in front of her like a shield. "This isn't how I wanted it to end", he said and tried to step closer to her but the look she send him made him stop.

"I bet it wasn't. But how did you think it was going to end? That I wouldn't find out? You lied to me, you used me!" she hissed under her breath, not willing to cause a scene.

"Buffy", he whispered painfully and reached out for her. "Touch me and I'll rip your arm off", Buffy ground out and quickly Lindsey pulled his hand away.

"You stay away from me and my family, or you and anyone else from Wolfram & Hart will be the exception on the rule that slayers don't kill people", she hissed gritting her teeth and walked past Lindsey.

As soon as Buffy was out of the door, Lindsey pulled out his phone and dialed the number. "We have a problem."

Buffy crossed the road and met with Gunn. "Did everything go alright? It looked pretty heated there at one time", Gunn asked concerned. Buffy took couple of calming breaths and nodded.

"I'm okay. Just threatened to tear his arm off and he backed off. Just hormones, no big."

"Okay, remind me not to piss you off till you've popped."

"Hey! I'm not that bad!" Buffy protested and Gunn jumped back with his hands held up. "Of course not", he said and she shot him a halfhearted glare before they started walking towards the hotel.

XXX

Buffy and Gunn walked into the lobby and immediately Angel ran to her. He stopped in front of her, inspecting her with his eyes and to others it almost looked like they were talking without saying anything.

"You okay?" he asked and she nodded with a small smile.

"Yeah. It's not like he could take me if he tried anything."

Angel heard a rifle being loaded and before the stop fired through the silencer, he spun him and Buffy around, the dart hitting him into back.

"Angel!" Buffy screamed as Angel started crumbling down to the ground. The others ran to the weapon cabinet and armed themselves. Buffy gently laid Angel down to the floor and attacked one of the masked intruders. The man didn't even have time to reload as he was down on the ground unconscious and Buffy was going after another. She fought the man with fierce focus when suddenly she was grabbed from behind and she felt a needle prick on the back of her neck. She kicked the commando in front of her and thrust he elbow back, hitting the man behind her. She fought to stay on her feet but the world was quickly loosing focus and she started staggering.

"Stay where you are!" Lindsey commanded as he grabbed a hold of Buffy before she crumbled to the ground. Two gun men pointed their guns at the team as third dragged the unconscious man out.

"Those aren't loaded with tranquilizers", Lindsey stated and handed Buffy to two men that had just entered the lobby. Without another word, the group left.

"Angel", Cordelia breathed out and ran to the unconscious vampire as Gunn and Wesley hurried to the door just in time to see a black van speed off. They returned to Cordelia who lifted her gaze to the two men.

"Angel isn't going to be happy when he wakes up."

XXX

Buffy slowly woke up and the first sight she saw was a row of bars. She sat up and placed her hand to her stomach, after a while stating that the baby seemed to be doing fine.

"You know, you really didn't have to go through all this trouble just for little ole me. Cages and the whole medieval stuff really isn't my thing", she stated and Lindsey stepped into the view.

"Well, I would have just sent flowers but Wolfram & Hart thinks little bigger than me", he said with a sad attempt of a smile.

"Was it all a lie? Can you even sing?"

"It wasn't a lie and I can sing a hell of a lot better than your boyfriend."

"Well, that may be true. But you lied to me! You used me! I would love to stake you right now."

"I told you once before, I'm not a vampire", Lindsey stated and Buffy scoffed.

"You're worse."

Lindsey looked at her painfully and walked closer to the cage, still keeping a good distance so she couldn't reach him. "Buffy..." he started but she interrupted him, shooting daggers at him while saying every word like they were poison.

"Was it all a lie? The whole bad childhood was just a trick to make me feel for you, to trust you?"

"No, that was true. You see, that's why I have no choice, I stayed with Wolfram & Hart..."

"You do have a choice! You had your chance to get out but you didn't take it!" Buffy interrupted him vehemently. He shook his head and stepped closer to the bars.

"No, I don't. I'm not going to be a victim anymore."

"You're still a victim", she stated and jumped to her feet. Before he could react, she had grabbed him by the throat and pulled against the bars. "Open the door", she demanded.

"Don't have a key", he answered calmly, he was fairly certain she wouldn't kill him. "Guess we'll be standing here till you find one", she stated.

"You're a smart girl, Buffy, there is no way you can protect that baby forever", Lindsey said and Buffy let out a sound that was very close to a growl.

"You're a smart boy, Lindsey, don't ever piss off a hormonally imbalanced slayer", she ground out and smashed his head against the bars. She leaned down and searched his pockets, finally sighing in irritation. "Is it too much to ask to keep a key with you", she griped as the search turned out to be fruitless.

XXX

Lilah walked towards her car digging the keys from her purse but she stopped and looked around as she thought she heard a noise. The garage seemed empty till her eyes fixed on the other employee walking to his car. Sighing in relief, she kept on going, pulling out her car keys and starting to unlock the door. Suddenly Angel was standing next to her, she hadn't seen or heard him coming and it took everything in her not to jump as she noticed him.

"Where is she?" Angel demanded. He could smell her fear in the air but despite that, Lilah gave him her best defiant look. "I don't know what you're talking about", she said innocently.

Suddenly Angel leaped forward and before Lilah could even register what had happened, she was pinned against the car by her throat. "Don't play with me Lilah, I'm not in the mood. I repeat, where is she?" he growled out, his face morphing into vampire feature without him even acknowledging it.

"I don't know", Lilah whispered, this time her eyes showed her fear as well. The low, angry growl he was making was sending cold chills running up and down her spine, this wasn't the brooding vampire that shied away from anything that reminded of the demon inside him.

"I have no patience to play your games. I repeat, where is she?" Angel ground out through gritted teeth and tightened his hold on her throat. She gasped for breath and tried to wring his fingers off her throat but it was in vain.

"In a safe house", she wheezed out and Angel let go of her neck. She nearly fell down to the ground and she had to lean on the car to stay standing, a show of weakness she didn't want Angel to see. She tried steadying her breathing but she could see that Angel wasn't a patient man at the moment.

"A safe house in the suburbs, I don't know which one", she explained.

"You better pray that nothing happens to her because if there is even a hair missing from her head, I will hunt you down and you will wish you had never seen me", Angel threatened and spun around, stalking away. As she watched him go, she pulled in a ragged breath and closed her eyes in relief.

"I already regret it", she muttered to herself and with shaking hands unlocked the car door.

XXX

The whole team jumped as Angel growled and threw a book to the wall. "This is useless!" he ground out and made a step closer to the computer but Cordelia stepped in front of him with a defiant look on her face.

"Stop the growling! Throwing around the computer and crashing the place is no help. We are going to find her so keep your forehead in place", she ordered and pointed at the chair for him to sit. Grudgingly he did, still glaring at her but she didn't let him intimidate her.

"I think we found it", Wesley informed from the computer and quickly scripted the address on a slip of paper. Angel had already jumped back to his feet and nearly ripped the paper from Wesley's hands before he finished the last letter. "Let's go", he announced and headed to the weapons cabinet, grabbing a battle ax and continuing to the door.

"It's a good thing the sun isn't up!" Cordelia stated loudly making sure Angel would hear her but he seemed to ignore her.

"Is anyone else getting a Angelus vibe from him?" she asked as soon as he had walked out the door. "You don't think..." Wesley started shocked by the suggestion and Cordelia shot him a strange look.

"Did you leave those big brains of yours back in the office? If that was Angelus, we'd be running screaming for our lives and there would have been a massacre at Wolfram & Hart. Please. I was just saying he's all growly and running through the door not caring if it's day or night."

"He's just concerned. And I have read that vampires can sense when the sun rises and sets", Wesley stated, picking up a crossbow and heading out with Cordelia and Gunn.

"What ever. But I still think he shouldn't be running around like a headless chicken."

Angel was waiting impatiently in the car for them and didn't look happy when they stepped in but he didn't say anything, just sped off. He slowed down as they arrived to the street parked the car out of sight. The group sneaked closer to the house and Angel glanced through a window, quickly estimating there were at least two men in soldier outfits and three vampires.

"There's at least five of them on guard", Angel said to the others.

"So how you wanna handle this?" Gunn asked.

"We go in and get Buffy out", he stated and at that sprinted into run and practically crashed through the door. "So guns blazing it is", Gunn stated and the others followed the vampire that was already fighting the guards.

Wesley shot one of the vampires but it managed to dodge enough that the arrow missed the heart and it abandoned Angel to attack Wesley. Wesley tried to shoot another arrow at it but it batted the crossbow off his hands and punched him against the wall. "Hey!" Cordelia yelled and as the vampire turned, she sprayed holy water on him. The vampire was blinded, giving Wesley the perfect opportunity to stake him.

Angel and Gunn were sharing the others, with a easy move, Angel staked the other vampire and threw the other man across the room as Gunn was in a fistfight with the other. The remaining vampire tried to sneak behind Gunn but Angel swung his ax and decapitated him.

The other commando climbed up to his feet and attacked the group. Cordelia shrieked as the man tried to grab her but Angel tackled him to the ground and quickly she pulled out a bottle of maze and directed the spray at the commando. Angel punched the man unconscious and turned to Cordelia, wiping his face to his sleeve.

"That's vile stuff", he stated and Cordelia raised her eyebrow at him.

"What? I wasn't aiming at you."

Angel shook his head and then directed his gaze to Gunn who was still fighting the remaining commando, it looked like he was just having fun and with that notion, Angel headed to the basement door, following his instincts. As he pulled the door open, he came face to face a large demon and with a growl, he hit it, sending it flying down to the basement. Quickly he jumped down the stairs and felt the relief flooding into his body as he saw Buffy, alive but still in the cage.

"Hey", she whispered with a small smile. "Hey", was his automatic answer. His eyes turned to Lindsey who was sporting nasty bruises on his face and a threatening growl escaped him.

Lindsey sprinted towards a table by the wall and Angel went right after him, stopping him from reaching the tranquilizer gun. Angel grabbed his arm and twisted forcefully till there was a sickening scrunch and he screamed in agony. As Lindsey was on the ground, Angel looked quickly around himself and found the keys tangling on a hook behind the table. He grabbed them and opened the cage door. Buffy sent a sad, disappointed look at Lindsey before the couple hurried up the stairs.

XXX

Buffy tried untangling herself from Angel's limbs but with every freeing movement he seemed to just tighten his hold on her.

"Angel, I need to get something to drink", she said knowing that he was usually a light sleeper and especially now he would notice the smallest sound.

"Wait here, I'll get it", he said and started loosening his hold on her. "Angel, I can get a glass of water myself", she protested but he turned to look at her and shook his head.

"You're never going to let me go outside ever again, are you?" she questioned accusingly.

"That was the second time you got kidnapped in a short timespan, I'm not letting you out of my bed again", he stated and then a smirk rose to his lips. "Now that I think about it, I like that idea."

Buffy laughed and slapped his arm. He smiled at her but soon the smile faded and his gaze traveled down to her stomach, his hand covering the growing bump. "Are you sure you two are okay?" he asked almost in a whisper. Buffy cupped his cheek with her hand and turned his eyes back to hers.

"We're okay", she assured him.

"But?"

"It's just... it's just that I'm feeling betrayed and disappointed with Lindsey. I though he was a friend and it turned out that he's a evil lawyer out to get you."

Angel covered her hand with his and brought it to his lips, pressing a soft kiss to her fingers. "I know. You trusted him and he betrayed that trust."

She nodded, sniffing back the tears that tried to form on her eyes. He wiped them away with his finger and she looked at the ceiling with a sigh. "Damn hormones", she grumbled.

"I just want to forget him tonight. Could you just... hold me right now?"

Angel wrapped his arms around her and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. "What about that drink?"

"It can wait, I just want to feel you. You're the only one I feel safe with", she said in a whispered and closed her eyes taking comfort in his presence.

XXX

Lindsey walked into his office with his arm on a sling and a cast wrapped around his forearm. His scowl deepened as he found Lilah sitting in his chair. "Lilah", he stated coolly.

"How's the arm?" she asked with a smirk making no move to leave his chair. "Good. But I doubt you came here to ask how my arm is doing", he said and walked closer to her.

"Just wanted to check you're still alive. He wasn't a happy camper when you took his blond. You're lucky he just broke your arm and didn't rip it off."

"As nice as these visits are, what are you really doing here, Lilah?" He was loosing his patience at the same rate as the painkiller was wearing off. She looked at him up and down till she got up to her feet and sauntered around the desk.

"The senior partners are pleased, we've found his weakness and she's the key in dipping him over to our side."

Lindsey let out a humorless laugh. "If you're thinking about killing her, your plan has one big hole in it. If you kill Buffy, Angel doesn't only loose his sanity but he will have more the reason to tear down Wolfram & Hart, more so now that she's pregnant weather or not she has given birth at the time."

Lilah glared at him and started to walk past him. "Just because you had a punch of coffee dates with the girl, don't think you have any say or insight into the thing. Wolfram & Hart will get that kid and the slayer is expendable, our main goal is to get Angel to our team, don't you forget that", she reminded him with a cold voice and intentionally brushed against his broken arm as she walked past him.

.

To be continued...


	14. The weekend getaway

**A/N:** Thank you to all readers and special thanks to all who left reviews, they are really appreciated.

* * *

**Chapter 14: The Weekend getaway**

It had been two months since Christian's real identity had been discovered and all had been quiet from the Wolfram & Hart front. A fact that made the group very suspicious, it was never a good sign.

"Auw", Buffy moaned and tried to rub her back. She had developed a habbit of walking around the small garden to ease her backaches since the ground was softer than on the sidewalks. Of course Angel wasn't very happy with it when she did it at daytime cause he couldn't come out to help her if something happened, but then again, he didn't like the idea of her outside after dark either. Buffy tried to convince him that she could still take care of herself despite her protruding stomach but he had become even more protective of her after Wolfram & Hart had kidnapped her.

She could feel his eyes on her back, he had been staring at her as long as she had been outside. She turned around and gave him a smile. He was standing just out of suns reach. Buffy sighed and glanced at the sky before heading back inside.

"How was your walk?" he asked and before she could answer, planted a soft kiss to her lips.

"Walky", she answered and laughed as he dropped down to his knees and spread his hands possessively over her stomach.

"Hey there little one", he whispered to the baby inside her. Buffy watched intently as he whispered things to their unborn child and the calm, happy look made her heart flutter, he rarely looked so at ease and she was certain if his soul hadn't been bound, soon she would have been looking into Angelus' dark eyes. But as their eyes met, there was no doubt that it was Angel who looked back at her.

"She kicked", he stated happily. "He takes after his father", she said and he looked at her like he wanted to protest but changed his mind, they both had their opinions about the baby's sex but soon they would find out.

"I never get tired of seeing this", Gunn's humorous voice said from behind Angel. He spun around to look at the man and sent him a glare before grudgingly getting up to his feet. "So how is the mama doing?" Gunn asked ignoring the vampire and walking to Buffy.

"Just fine", she answered leaving out the fact that her back was killing her.

"Okay, take it easy. I'll go to look into that vamp case", Gunn stated and left. Buffy looked after him frowning, she hated that she couldn't join the fight and just had to look others do it.

"Are you sulking?" Angel asked with a smile. She turned to him with a halfhearted glare and answered with a pout, "No." He didn't look like he believed her.

"I think I'm going to go sit down, now my feet are killing me", she said and headed to the round couch in the lobby. Angel followed her and kneeled down in front of her, removing her shoes and gently rubbing the bottoms of her feet.

"Oh. That feels nice", she sighed and smiled down at him. She let her eyes close and lost herself in the sensation. "You're really good with your hands", she said letting out another sigh as he worked the pain away.

"I know", he smirked and she opened her eyes enough to look at him.

"Funny", she stated and grudgingly pulled her legs away as Cordelia walked into the lobby with a wide smile on her face. She spotted Buffy and made a straight line to her.

"Guess what! Preston asked me to spend a weekend with him! At his beach house!" she announced, one step away from jumping up and down from excitement.

"Isn't that a little quick?" Angel asked uncomfortably and Cordelia threw him a cool look.

"At his beach house", she repeated like it explained everything. Finally she let out a exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes. "Men", she muttered and turned to Buffy, ignoring the vampire next to her.

"Can you believe it!" she said to Buffy, the wide smile returning to her lips. But then it disappeared and was replaced with a look of horror.

"Oh my God! What am I going to wear?!"

XXX

The group was gathered in the office with stacks books surrounding them. Buffy sighed in boredom and put down the book she had been reading.

"Why do I have to be researching? Can't I just pass with the excuse that I'm pregnant?" she questioned. Angel put down his book and moved to sit down next to her.

"Maybe you should go upstairs to rest?" he suggested, his hand unconsciously moving to her stomach.

"It's my brain that needs rest, too many boring pages full of boring details of ugly demons. Do I really need to know how those things mate?" She pointed at the drawn picture of a large demon with five hands, two mouths and drooping veiny skin. "I don't think so", she added grimacing. He chuckled and shook his head.

"Why don't you take a break then, make sure the boys behave while I'm patrolling", he said and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before standing up. He looked at the clock, then at the phone with a frown in his face and Buffy rolled her eyes.

"If she has a vision, she will call", she stated.

"I know. I'm going."

"I'll keep the bed warm for you", Buffy whispered with a crooked grin, quiet enough that only Angel could hear her. Angel leaned closer to her, placing his hands against her chair's backrest on both sides of her head.

"Vixen", he accused and stole a brief kiss from her before leaving quickly so he wouldn't be tempted to stay.

"Shouldn't you two be over the honeymoon phase?" Gunn questioned drawing Buffy's attention to himself.

The front door slammed loudly and everyone jumped to their feet. As they gathered at the doorway and to their surprise saw Cordelia stalking through the lobby not looking happy. Buffy was almost afraid to ask what had happened to make her interrupt her romantic getaway two days early. She started approaching the fuming woman like she was a wounded animal.

"That pompous ass!" Cordelia exclaimed throwing her arms in the air.

"What happened?" Buffy asked tentatively.

"All men are pigs!" Cordelia cried out.

"On the behalf of my gender: Hey! Don't generalize", Gunn protested from the office doorway. "I agree with Gunn", Wesley added. But both men were ignored.

"What happened, Cordy?" Buffy asked again but she didn't look too keen on sharing while the men were listening. Buffy glanced at the two men by the office and then directed her gaze back to Cordelia, understanding her reluctance.

"Let's go to the garden", Buffy said and led her outside. They sat to the bench next to the fountain and Buffy waited patiently for Cordelia to start talking.

"He seemed so different from other guys. You know!" Cordelia finally began and Buffy gave her an understanding nod, not interrupting her. "But he was just like the rest of them! Till now he was sweet, kind, charming and everything I thought I'd like in a guy. I thought maybe this time it would be different, he was human, he wasn't trying to sacrifice me to anything, he seemed dependable so I wouldn't have to worry about walking in on him and his best friend necking", she continued with a frown. Buffy didn't say anything, just let her tell everything on her own pace.

"But he was exactly on the opposite. He was an asshole. I thought we had something! I thought spending a weekend at his beach house would be romantic and like a vacation from all the craziness of our lives, a vision-free time for me." She paused taking deep calming breathes and tried to keep herself from crying. She didn't want to let a guy make her cry, not after Xander, she was stronger than that. Also she didn't want to cry in front of Buffy.

"When we got there, he changed. He wanted to make his own video but when I said no, he yelled at me. Accused me of leading him on and using him for my career. What career?! I've only had few commercials!" she cried out and Buffy took a hold of her hand, giving it a soft squeeze, letting her know she wasn't alone.

"And he grabbed me", she said painfully and Buffy's eyes drew to the forming bruises on her wrist.

"You want me to teach him a lesson?" Buffy asked half serious, she was willing to smack him around a little bit. Cordelia let out a painful laugh and shook her head.

"I already kicked and maced him. Before I left. I think he might have some problems reproducing in the future but that's just a good thing." She paused again, turning to Buffy, looking more vulnerable than she had ever seen her.

"When he grabbed my arm, I was scared. And I don't want to be scared, I want to know how to defend myself. Other than the standard kick to the crutch."

"You want me to teach you how to fight?" Buffy questioned with a raised eyebrow, surprised by the possibility.

"Yes. I don't want to be scared of people. Demons and other creepy crawlies I can handle but I want to know how to defend myself without a sharp wooden stick", Cordelia answered with a nod. Buffy didn't know what to say, Cordelia Chase had actually asked her for help. She opened her mouth to answer her but then closed it again, trying to find the words.

"Okay", she finally said. "I'll teach you some basic stuff while I'm still on the pregnancy leave and the rest after the birth. Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Okay, we'll start tomorrow", Buffy said and stood up. Cordelia did the same and frowned at her.

"Tomorrow?"

"Changing your mind?" Buffy smirked and Cordelia gave her a defiant look.

"Not gonna happen", she stated and started walking back to the hotel. Buffy looked after her with a smile. Slowly she turned around finding Angel standing behind the fountain with a bloody ax in his hand. He didn't look happy.

"I know, I know, I'm not supposed to be outside after dark. But I have Mr Pointy with me. And how long have you been standing there?" She looked at him scrutinizingly.

"Pretty much everything. Wesley called that they found what kind of a demon it was and it needs silver bullets", he answered and casually walked closer to her.

"Since you're too much of a middle ages gentleman, you won't do the whole na-na-na-naa-I-told-you-so-thing. But you do know that Cordelia will stake you if she finds out you heard her?" she stated and he nodded in confirmation.

"I know. And I wasn't born in the middle ages."

She smiled at his petulant look. "You're cute when you pout", she stated with a giggle and he threw her a halfhearted glare which only made her smile wider.

"So you're gonna be training Cordelia", he changed the subject and started leading her back inside.

"Yeah. I couldn't convince you to take me with you for a demon hunt?" she asked and batted her eyelashes at him with a sweet smile but dropped the act as his expression didn't waver. "I didn't think so. I can't believe this but I think I miss the slaying." He pulled her into his arms and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

"Think of it as a vacation, you can relax for a change."

"With a huge stomach, swollen ankles and back that is killing me", she grumbled with a pout. He shook his head and got down to his knees in front of her, covering her stomach with his hands.

"You're beautiful", he stated and pressed a kiss to her stomach. He looked up to her, she was smiling but her eyes still showed skepticism. "Why don't you take a relaxing bath and when I come back, I'll rub your feet", he suggested and got up to his feet.

"Okay, you've got yourself a deal."

"I won't be long", he said stealing a quick kiss from her and going to the weapons cabinet. He took out a pistol and loaded it with silver bullets, checking it twice before heading towards the door.

"Hey! Not to sound all cliché, but be careful", Buffy said and he stopped, turning to look at her.

"Don't worry, I'll be right back", he said and left. Buffy watched him disappear into the shadows and sighed wearily. It was easy to say not to worry, she knew he could look after himself but it was still hard not being there fighting alongside with him. She turned around and started going up the stairs, maybe the bath wasn't such a bad idea.

.

To be continued...


	15. No worries

**A/N:** Wow, the previous chapter got more reviews than any other. **Thank you** guys! They are truly appreciated.

* * *

**Chapter 15: No worries**

Buffy laid in bed waiting, the hot bath had done wonders to her aching body but very little to sooth her nerves. It wasn't like Angel hadn't been out fighting demons before but now that she was pregnant, she was worried about him more often and bursting into tears thinking about him fighting without her. She was getting really annoyed with her unbalanced hormones.

She heard voices from downstairs, another perk of being pregnant, she was always alert, keeping herself aware of her surroundings. With difficulty she sat up and shifted off the bed, making her way downstairs. At the stairway she noticed that Angel was back. She smiled in relief at the sight but then the smile disappeared as she noticed the blood in his chest. She hurried down the stairs and quickly made her way to him.

"Angel", she breathed out and drew his attention to herself. She sat down next to him on the round settee and inspected the wound, to her small relief she noted the bleeding had nearly stopped.

"You got shot?" she questioned and he looked somewhat embarrassed.

"It appears that the demon managed to get a hold of the pistol", Wesley answered as he across the hall walked to them and handed her the emergency kit.

"The demon shot you with you own gun?" Buffy questioned incredulously but Angel refused to even meet her eyes, he was too embarrassed. He had been in too much of a hurry to get back home that he had been careless while facing the demon, given his age and experience he thought he wouldn't make such beginners mistakes, but guess he was wrong.

"Just one more point that gun equals bad", she stated and gently removed his jacket, noticing the exit wound on his back and a hole in the jacket. She dipped a cotton ball in alcohol and started cleaning the wound. He hissed at the pain as it burnt.

"Sorry", she whispered and placed a soft kiss to his shoulder.

"It's okay", he assured her, finally meeting her eyes.

"How exactly did you get shot with your own gun?" Buffy asked like a mother to a child that had gotten himself in trouble. "I lost the gun", he answered.

"I sort of figured that one", she stated dryly. He sighed and decided to give her the full answer.

"There was more than one demon. I was about to shoot the first one when the other struck me from behind and I lost the gun."

There was a sort pause and he looked at her waiting for her reaction, finally he broke the silence. "I thought you'd be angry with me", he stated still looking at her with expectant eyes.

"I guess you woke up the mother instinct in me", she answered shrugging and taped the gauze over the wound.

"Let's get you to bed", she said and pulled him to his feet as she stood up. Angel followed her to their bedroom and she pushed him sitting down to the bed.

"I promised you that backrub", he stated with a husky voice and circled her waits with his arms, pulling her to stand between his legs.

"And you were supposed to be careful. We'll do that when you're healed", she shot back and gently pushed him laying down on his back to the bed. She opened his pants and pulled them down before covering him with the sheet. She was about to step back when he grabbed her arm and pulled her to the bed, firmly wrapping his arms around her so she couldn't escape. She laughed and playfully slapped his chest, carefully avoiding the wound on his shoulder. She gave him a loving kiss and rolled to her own side of the bed, snuggling against him, which was getting more and more difficult with her growing belly.

"Go to sleep", she whispered and closed her eyes.

XXX

Cordelia walked to the lobby with her old Adidas sports bag on her shoulder. She had packed her sports top, sweatpants and her most comfortable running shoes to the bag so she didn't have to go home to change when she and Buffy were going to start their combat lessons. She headed to the counter but as she was putting down her bag, Angel appeared before her. She let out a startled shriek and jumped back. She tried to steady her breathing, holding her hand on over her heart and glaring at the vampire.

"I thought we agreed on that one. No sneaking up on people!"

At least he had decency to look sheepish. "Sorry. Buffy's waiting for you downstairs."

"Oukay. I really should watch what I wish for, training first thing in the morning", Cordelia muttered to herself as she headed to the stairs with her bag. She found a empty room and changed her clothes, still muttering to herself as she made her way to the ballroom they were going to use for training. She found Buffy balancing with a bunch of weapons in her arms and she rushed to help her, pregnant lady and all that.

"Are we going to be using these?" she asked while taking some of the load, to her surprise they were a lot heavier than they looked and it was a task to get them to the weapons chest. Buffy chuckled at her question and shook her head vigorously.

"Nope. Right now we're concentrating on the basic stuff, defense, footing and breaking free from a hold, stuff like that", she answered and Cordelia groaned at the thought.

"So we just wax on, wax off", she stated and Buffy laughed shaking her head.

"Nope, I show you the moves, you repeat, rehearse and I give you pointers how you're doing. You don't have to go anywhere near Angel's car", she promised.

"That's comforting", Cordelia muttered. She had already known it wasn't going to be easy and there was no way she would ever pull back, but it didn't mean she had to be enthusiastic about it.

"Umm... I guess we should start with the dummy thing, practice some hits and kicks first. You should do some light stretching first", Buffy said not sure where to start, it wasn't like she had ever trained anybody, she was the trainee. Cordelia did as she was told, stretching her arms and legs form side to side and making sure she was warmed up. She still remembered the time she didn't warm up for a cheerleading practice and pulled a muscle, not something she wanted to go through again.

As she was finished, Buffy showed her how to hit the practice dummy, she made few moves in slow motion and stepped back. Even though she was feeling silly, Cordelia went to the dummy and tried to mimic the moves Buffy had showed her.

"Bend your knees a little more, you need to be able to move quickly", Buffy instructed and Cordelia did so, leaving out the comment why would she need to move quickly, it wasn't like the dummy was going to hit back. Buffy gave Cordelia some pointers and as they had managed to repeat the hits with close enough accuracy, she showed Cordelia some kicks and told her to combine the kicks with the hits she had learned. Muttering to herself, Cordelia started pounding her fists against the dummy, kicking it where its crotch would be and after a while of beating the lifeless object, she was actually feeling like she was getting the hang of it.

But she stopped suddenly as she noticed Angel standing by the door. She was sweaty and dressed in sweatpants, not a sight she wanted anyone out of the male gender seeing, no matter how much of a brother, she never had and never wanted, the said male was to her.

"Looks good", Angel commented, noticing that Cordelia had stopped immediately after seeing him.

"What are you doing here? I thought we agreed this to be girls only session till I get to show off my star pupil", Buffy questioned with a smile, quickly making her way to where Angel was standing.

"I just..." Angel started to answer but was interrupted by Cordelia.

"...wanted to check up on the pregnant lady", she finished for him and walked to the chair where her water bottle was set. Angel sent a halfhearted scowl at her way and turned his attention back to Buffy.

"I just wanted to know how you were doing", he stated and placed his hand on the bump. She smiled brightly, placing her hand over his.

"We're doing just fine. As Cordy's been pounding the dummy thingy, junior here has been kicking my ribs", she answered. She glanced at Cordelia and turned back to Angel. "I think you should go now, I think Cordy is a little embarrassed of being seen in sweats."

Angel looked at Cordelia, just noticing what she was wearing, he turned his questioning gaze back to Buffy. "Why should I care what she's wearing?" he asked clearly not understanding what was the big deal about it.

"It's a girl thing", Buffy stated like it explained everything.

"Fine, I'll go. And you, take it easy and don't stay on your feet too long", he said and placed a soft kiss to her lips before grudgingly leaving the room. Buffy went back where Cordelia was standing and they continued training for another half an hour.

XXX

Cordelia screamed in pain and fell down to the floor at the power of the vision. Gunn and Wesley hurried to her side but as usual, no one was there in time to catch her before she fell. Quickly she wiped the tears away and got up to her feet, ignoring questions of her wellbeing, she made her way up the stairs.

As she stormed through the door, she wasn't prepared on seeing the lovers in a passionate embrace. With a painful shriek she covered her eyes and started staggering back to the door, only managing to close it by walking backwards into it.

"Oh no! Oh no", Buffy kept repeating to herself, bright red from embarrassment. She grabbed a discarded shirt from the floor and quickly pulled it on, still hiding under the covers.

Finally Cordelia managed to find the door by just using her hands as she didn't dare to open her eyes, she had seen all too much already. It would have been comical if everyone in the situation hadn't been so mortified by it. Firmly closing the door behind her, she leaned against it with a sigh and opened her eyes, once again sighing in relief as there were no naked people in front of her.

"I actually had something important to say. A vision, with Technicolor, surround sound and even the smell", she yelled through the door, still leaning against it as though keeping anyone from coming through it.

"What did you see?" Angel asked through the door, he had gotten up from the bed and started to put his clothes on, not happy of the interruption.

"Bunch of ugly demons in a warehouse, the ones Wesley was looking for yesterday. They had little children captive. And they are so scared", Cordelia explained, her voice hitching as she thought of the terrified feeling she got from the vision.

"Tell Wesley and Gunn to get ready and take pistols with silver bullets from the cabinet", Angel told her and turned to Buffy who was changing back to her own clothes, still hiding under the sheet. Angel felt a twist at his gut because of the scared look on her face, he also knew what brought it.

"Little children", she whispered to herself with a tiny voice and shifted off the bed fully clothed.

"We're going to save them", he promised her and pulled her into his arms, placing a soft kiss to the top of her hair.

"And promise me you won't get shot this time", she said and craned her neck to look at him.

"I try not to", he told her and she gave him a halfhearted glare.

"That's not comforting. You better not to or you're gonna be sleeping on Wesley's couch for a few weeks", she threatened even though they both knew it was an empty threat.

"I'll come back in one piece", he promised and pulled away from her, heading downstairs with her following.

XXX

The men had been gone for nearly two hours and Buffy was getting nervous. She could sit down for a few moments before she got anxious again and started pacing the floor. She was constantly looking at the clock and bursting into tears as she thought about what might have been going on at the warehouse.

"I hate these damn hormones", she muttered to herself and wiped the remaining tears away. Again she looked at the clock and with a growl headed to the weapons cabinet in the hopes of getting her mind off of Angel.

"Don't touch the pointy stuff and stop the fidgeting, will you, you're driving me crazy", Cordelia snapped and Buffy stopped on her tracks, turning to look at the brunette.

"Sorry. I'm just angsty. This whole housewife thing isn't really working for me, worrying about if the hubby comes home bleeding. He was just injured and by those things he's after now", she explained bordering between worried and panicking. 'Damn hormones' she thought to herself once again.

"Didn't seem to stop you two few hours ago", Cordelia muttered but Buffy heard it, blushing furiously.

"Umm... Vampires heal fast and... you really should've knocked", she said turning her gaze away from the brunette and wringing her fingers nervously.

"I just got a head splitting vision and I forgot how dangerous it is just to walk in", Cordelia cried out, she knew that Buffy was embarrassed by it but so was she, it was like walking in on your parents.

"Let's change the subject, okay?" Buffy suggested.

"That's more than fine by me. And stop the worrying, he'll be fine. He's been a vampire for what, 240 years, it's not like he can't handle couple of ugly demons."

"I know that. But lately I've been having these damn mood swings, one minute I'm fine, the next I'm bawling like a baby on a matter I wouldn't have worried about few months ago", Buffy explained with a frown.

"It's the joys of impending motherhood", Cordelia said with a fake sigh and sympathetic look.

"It's not funny. I'd rather give birth right now to get rid of these mood swings, I haven't cried this lot in years", Buffy sighed with a pout.

They both sighed in relief as the men walked through the lobby door. "Man, that was a good fight", Gunn said with a wide smile, shaking his head in remembrance.

"I quite agree with that", Wesley joined in.

Buffy made her way to Angel, who was bathed in pink blood. The sight was tucking the sides of her lips in the need to laugh but she managed not to. "Any bullet holes?" she questioned and looked at his scrutinizingly, not seeing any human blood among the pink.

"Not one", he promised with a smile.

"Okay, there better not be cause I'm gonna do a inspection", she whispered with a mischievous look in her eyes. She got up to her toes to kiss him but he pulled back.

"I'm covered in demon blood", he protested.

"And I don't care", she stated and pulled him into a kiss.

"Ygh", Cordelia grimaced and hid herself in the office, maybe now that the heroics were done, she could go home.

Buffy pulled back and grimaced. "You need a shower", she stated and started to lead him upstairs.

"So how did it go?" she asked him as they made their way to the bedroom.

"Killed the demons and got the kids back home. I think one of the mom's tried to hit on Gunn."

"Well that's understandable, he's a good looking guy", Buffy stated as she walked into the bathroom and turned the water running. Angel followed her and leaned casually against the doorframe.

"Should I be jealous?" he asked with a lopsided grin.

"I don't think you need to worry", she answered with a matching grin and pulled him into the bathroom before starting to help him out of his dirty clothes.

.

To be continued...


	16. Center of attention

**A/N:**Thank you for all the reviews and for being patient with me. I know it's over two weeks since my last update but writer's block is a bitch. I know where I'm going with this fic but getting there without suddenly jumping in time was the roadblock.

* * *

**Chapter 16: Center of attention**

Buffy and Angel were sitting on the lobby's couch, cleaning their weapons, working in perfect synchronization. Without even having to look at each other, they traded their tools and continued the task. The others looked at them with mild amusement, the couple worked so well together that it was almost like they could read each others mind.

The quiet moment was interrupted when a woman in her late twenties, dressed in a bright red dress, strolled through the front door, drawing every males attention to herself. Cordelia rolled her eyes at the display, men were so easy and Buffy sent a glare at Angel's way.

"Don't make a pregnant slayer with a weapon jealous", she whispered to him and he turned to look at her, amusement clear in his face. The woman looked at Angel, a look of suspicion flashing through her face before she dismissed him and turned to Wesley and Gunn by the counter. She stalked to the reception desk and leaned against it.

"Hey there", she drawled softly. When both Gunn and Wesley jumped to greet her, Buffy and Cordelia shared a look and rolled their eyes. "Gunn, was it?" the woman questioned and Gunn quickly nodded in confirmation, suddenly not trusting his voice.

"I bet you don't remember me, but we met some time ago, you saved me from that terrible creature. I'm Mimi Parker", she said and again Gunn nodded his head, clearing his throat.

"Yeah. Of course, I remember", he answered while trying to keep his eyes from wandering down to her generously displayed bust. Mimi smiled at him sweetly and then turned her attention to Wesley who had been patiently waiting to be introduced to her.

"Hello, I'm Mimi Parker", she introduced herself to him. "Wesley Wyndham-Pryce. Pleasure to meet you, miss Parker", he answered with a shy smile.

"I bet it is", Cordelia muttered to herself, glaring at the woman's back.

"Uhm... Gunn, could I speak to you in private? You handled my case so well last time..." She didn't have time to finish as he jumped in. "Yes, let's go to my office", Gunn interrupted her and led her to Angel's office.

"His office?!" Wesley questioned, not able to keep the jealousy out of his voice.

"Come on, she's all plastic and silicone and you guys are flooding the lobby with your drool", Buffy commented.

"Excuse me, I do not drool", Wesley protested and straightened his back proudly. Both Buffy and Cordelia raised an eyebrow at his statement, clearly not thinking the same. Buffy turned to look at Angel who had had his eyes set on her ever since her comment. She raised a questioning eyebrow at him, annoyance clear in her face.

"Are you jealous?" he asked with a smirk, it always made him a happy man when he wasn't the only one with possessive feelings in the relationship.

"No", she answered with a pout as her eyes glared at him. His crooked smile only widened.

"Honey", he said with a sweet voice and nuzzled against her neck, her eyes closed on their own accord. "You know I love it when you get jealous. But there's really no reason to be", he said against her skin, causing shivers run all over her body. His hand slowly stroked her stomach and he pressed a soft kiss to the crook of her neck.

"Hey, what have I told you two!? No constant snuggling, kissing or double entendres when I'm in the building. Haven't I been traumatized enough by you two!" Cordelia chastised them but her voice was just background noise to the couple. Angel's lips brushed against the scar on Buffy's neck and she had to fight against moaning aloud.

"Hello! I would escape to the office but Gunn is there with miss Silicone", Cordelia called out and reluctantly Buffy pulled away from Angel's lips' reach.

"I think we shouldn't. Cordy just broke up with her boyfriend, I don't wanna rub it on her face", she explained and Angel nodded in understanding. He had become more comfortable in showing signs of affection in front of the group than he had been before but he still believed it should be private, but sometimes he couldn't help himself.

"Does your back hurt again?" he asked in concern as he noticed her grimacing as she shifted in her seat. Was it normal for a pregnant woman to have back pains so often? She gave him a soft smile.

"Just a little", she answered and shifted again, trying to get a more comfortable position. Angel moved closer to her and gently started massaging her lower back, quickly relieving the pain. She closed her eyes and smiled, letting out a soft sigh in appreciation.

After a while, he leaned closer to her ear, speaking in hushed tones but not stopping his ministrations on her back. "We should go upstairs, maybe those relaxing oils might help. And maybe we should go see doctor Lang, there could be something wrong."

Buffy turned to look at him with a assuring smile and shook her head. He was constantly worrying about her and the baby, especially after she had been kidnapped twice. "It's just because the baby is so big and I'm short. I bet the baby inherited your genes on growth and is big as a water melon."

He chuckled at her melodramatics but only got a glare shot his way. "Not funny. I'm the one that has to give birth to the water melon", she said with a pout.

"Come on, let's go upstairs. I'm sure Gunn will be more than happy to take over while we're gone", he said and pulled her to her feet. She glanced at the office.

"I bet he is", she muttered and let Angel guide her to their bedroom.

"Where did Buffy and Angel disappear to?" Wesley asked after a while, looking around himself.

"I don't wanna know", Cordelia answered and pointed at the stairs.

XXX

Gunn slunk through the door and tiredly sat down to the first chair he found, placing the still bloody axe to the counter. "So how was the case?" Angel asked looking at the exhausted man in front of him.

"Solved. There was a nest close by. And she asked me to dinner", Gunn answered with a yawn.

"Who?" Angel asked with a frown, on their business everything was possible.

"Miss Parker asked you to dinner?" Wesley asked not able to keep the envy out of his voice.

"That's right, English. We're having dinner at her place tonight, just the two of us", Gunn smirked and Wesley sent his version of a glare at his way.

Buffy walked to the men and directed her gaze to Gunn, clearly not happy. "Why is there a bloody axe on the counter? And with the handle over the edge?" she questioned sternly.

"'Cause I put it there", Gunn stated not understanding her point.

"Are you crazy?! Do you have any idea how easily the baby could drop it?!"

"The baby isn't even born yet, Buffy", Gunn pointed out and got a glare directed his way.

"But soon it will be. This place is practically a deathtrap!"

Angel quickly made his way around the reception desk and laid a calming hand to her shoulder. "Calm down, sweetheart. Don't get too excited", he murmured to her ear, languidly stroking her back.

"Gunn, clean the axe and put it back to the cabinet", he told Gunn before guiding Buffy to the office. He sat her down to the lush leather chair and leaned against the desk. "Don't stress yourself", he said, reaching out and smoothing her hair back.

"I can't help it. I was reading this baby magazine and it made me realize I have nothing repaired. Soon the baby will be born and we have so much to do. I'm not ready!" She got more distressed by every sentence.

"Shh... Don't worry, we'll put locks on the weapon cabinets and make the building baby friendly", he assured her.

"I killed my gold fish!" she reminded him.

"The baby is not a gold fish", he chuckled.

"Exactly!" she cried out. "What if I'm gonna be a bad mother? I know nothing about babies", she said nearly hyperventilating. He took her hands into his own, drawing her gaze to him.

"Buffy. You are going to be a wonderful mother. Trust me", he said looking into her eyes.

"Okay, panic attack over", she breathed out, considerably more calm. She glanced around the office before bringing her gaze back to his. "But we really do need to lock the weapons and get those plug thingys to the electric sockets", she stated with a frown.

Gunn knocked to the doorframe and looked in, making sure it was safe. "Okay, the axe is clean and hidden away from babies that aren't gonna be crawling around for months", he said, coming to stand in front of the desk. Buffy looked at him somewhat embarrassed.

"Sorry about my little meltdown earlier. You know, hormones going wonky", she apologized, glad that she could use the hormones-excuse.

"Yeah, I know. Hey, could I leave early? I'm meeting Mimi later."

"Sure, it seems quiet enough around here", Angel answered and with a nod of confirmation, Gunn left the office.

"He's meeting Mimi?" Buffy questioned with a raised eyebrow. "He has a date", Angel answered.

"Men", she muttered rolling her eyes.

XXX

It was already noon when Gunn walked through the door, looking absolutely drained. "What happened?" Angel asked in concern.

"Hey, a gentleman never tells", Gunn answered and went to sit behind the counter, folding his arms on the surface before resting his head on his arms and closing his eyes. He yawned again. "Man, that woman was insatiable", he stated with wonderment in his voice, shaking his head but not opening his eyes.

"Not you too! It's bad enough with big momma and broody over here and now I have to hear about your bedroom stories! I so need a raise!" Cordelia griped.

"So, I take it the date went well", Angel stated.

"Yeah, I'm meeting her tonight", Gunn muttered and few minutes later was asleep.

"Okay, that's weird. I've seen him all ready for more after a tough fight and not sleeping in few days and now he's drained!?"

"Cordelia, just because the man is tired doesn't mean there's anything strange going on", Angel chastised and Cordelia raised an questioning eyebrow.

"I didn't say anything. You said that all by yourself", she stated dismissively and Angel looked at her confused. He was about to say something to her, when his eyes landed on Buffy who was carrying a bag and wearing her comfortable walking shoes. He walked past Cordelia, making his way to Buffy.

"You going somewhere?" he asked glancing at bag.

"Cordy and I are going to the beach now", she stated.

"I thought it wouldn't be today", he muttered with what dangerously looked like a pout.

"Don't pout, Angel. It's perfectly safe, I've got my mace and the electric thingy plus a stake, I may be pregnant but I can still look after myself and Cordy will be there", she said placing her hands on her hips and challenging him with her eyes. She was feeling a little confined staying at the hotel so much but she didn't want to remind him that she needed the sun, a place where he couldn't take her to.

He sighed deeply, he couldn't deny her from having a normal life, she belonged to the light. "Just promise to be careful", he said and she smiled at him, he was so cute.

"Angel, the beach isn't exactly a crime mecca of LA. And I've got Cordelia with me, you should she how scary she looks with a spatula."

He gave her a half a smile, just the thought of Cordelia with anything cooking related was a scary thought.

"I promise to take care of the pregnant lady. Stop brooding already", Cordelia ordered and grabbed Buffy by arm, dragging her to the door without a second glance at Angel.

"I'll see you in couple hours", Buffy called out from the door and Angel's frown deepened as she disappeared into the sun.

"Is something wrong?" Wesley asked from behind him, despite having his soul permanent, Angel did have a tendency to brood but he usually did it when he was alone. Angel turned to face his friend that looked a little worried.

"No", he answered, then after a brief silence, his frown was replaced with a anxious look. "Am I doing wrong towards Buffy?" he asked his tone of voice mirroring the look on his face.

"Wrong? What you mean?" Wesley asked confused.

"For pursuing a life with her. She's still young, she has so many possibilities in life. She says she won't regret it and I know she loves me, but I still can't give her the things a normal boyfriend could. Like taking her to the beach."

Wesley sighed in relief that it wasn't more pressing matter, he took off his glasses and looked at the again frowning vampire. "Angel, I assure you, you are not doing her wrong. She chose to live with you, to pursue a relationship with you despite the obstacles you two have had and you know how determined young woman she is, I doubt she would be with you if she didn't want to. And about the boyfriend matter, I do believe you two have talked it through. Lending Cordelia's words, get over it", Wesley answered and put his glasses back on. Angel looked at the former watcher, stunned, he hadn't expected that kind of an answer.

"I'm sorry, Wes. You're right, Buffy wants to make her own decisions and she has made her point clear. It was just a small panic attack, the baby will be coming soon and it's really just starting to sink in." A smile started to play on his lips as he mentioned the baby, he didn't even notice it but it happened every time he even thoughts about his unborn child that never should have been a possibility.

"It's quite normal to be nervous from the nearing fatherhood but I am certain you have nothing to worry about", Wesley assured him.

XXX

Buffy was sitting on a lounge chair under an umbrella as Cordelia was working on her tan next to her. "We should check her out", Cordelia suddenly stated. Buffy turned to look at her, pulling her sunglasses down and staring at the brunette with a questioning look.

"Check who?"

"Miss Big Bust. Who do you think!? You have to admit there's something majorly weird about Gunn's new playmate."

"Yeah, I admit but maybe it's just that I don't like her", Buffy answered with a frown, she didn't like the woman but she couldn't trust her slayer-vibes either, since along with her hormones they were all over the place.

"Oh come on! I can't stand Miss Cleavage either but there is something wrong with her", Cordelia said passionately, then seemed to come to realization as her face took an AHA!-expression. "She dismissed Angel with just one glance and went after Wes and Gunn like they were a piece of meat."

Buffy face darkened and she sent a glare at the brunette. "It's her luck she didn't come after Angel", she griped with jealousy flashing in her eyes.

"Yeah, sure. But it's weird, she didn't give him a second glance, sure Wes and Gunn are hot but COME ON!" Again Buffy glared at her but Cordelia didn't seem to care. "We need to find out what's her deal. Find out if she has criminal record, has she paid her taxes, where she takes her botox", she continued, absently waving her hand as she talked.

"Wouldn't that be wrong?" Buffy questioned uncertainly but she was tempted with the idea.

"No, we're just looking after our friend, it's our duty."

"Okay, we'll call Willow once we get back to the hotel", Buffy agreed and Cordelia smiled triumphantly. But her smile faded as a man in his mid twenties came to stand by them.

"You're in my sun", Cordelia stated, not even caring that the man was very good looking.

"But it doesn't compare to your smile", the man said, making Cordelia roll her eyes and Buffy giggle at the lame line.

"I'm not interested", Cordelia said with her best queen C expression.

"But how about a cup of coffee", the guy suggested clearly not taking the hint.

"Didn't you hear, I'm not interested. We're gonna have a baby soon", Cordelia said with fake sweetness and gently patted Buffy's pregnant stomach. The guys eyes widened with a perfect deer caught in headlights look and he was clearly uncomfortable.

"Uhm... Congratulations... Umm... I just remembered... I am... I was... I see my friends there. Bye", he said and quickly scattered away. Cordelia giggled and turned to look at Buffy who was looking at her with an raised eyebrow.

"Could you think of any quicker way to get rid of him?" she stated and got up from the blanket, folding it and pulling on her clothes.

"Is everything alright?" Buffy questioned with worry clear in her voice, it was the fifth guy Cordelia had sent away with one glance.

"Everything's fine. Why?" Cordelia asked absently.

"That was the fifth guy you shot down. Sure he had trouble with the pick up lines but the others could actually keep up a conversation."

Cordelia stopped and turned to look at Buffy. "Just because there's guys around me, doesn't mean I want one to be there all the time. I'm gonna lay low for a while, I've had enough assholes in short time period", she explained and gave a look that she didn't want to continue the topic. Buffy decided to drop it.

They went back to the hotel, finding it nearly abandoned, only Gunn sleeping in the office. Buffy grabbed the phone and dialed Willow's number. She sat down and waited for an answer.

"Hey, Willow... I need a favor, I need you to use your hacker skills and find out about a Mimi Parker... Gunn's seeing her and we think there might be something fishy about her... No, not as an actual fish, though that wouldn't be anything new... Yeah, it's probably nothing..."

"Yeah, right", Cordelia scoffed and Buffy sent an halfhearted glare at her way before turning her attention back to the phone.

"Yeah, we've got a address", she answered to Willow and got up, making her way to the filing cabinet and quickly going through the files. When her search appeared to be futile, she covered the speaker and turned to Cordelia. "Where's the file?"

"Try the 'S'", Cordelia answered absently. Buffy looked at her in confusion but then turned her attention back to the cabinet, finding the file under S and giving the address to Willow. Again she covered the phone and turned to the brunette.

"Why is Mimi Parker under S?" she questioned, still wearing the confused expression on her face.

"S as in silicone. There is no way she was born with them", Cordelia stated like it was the obvious answer. Buffy resisted the need to roll her eyes, she was sure she would never get used to Cordelia's filing style, but she doubted she was the only one.

"Okay, thanks Willow... Can you call me as soon as you find out anything? Okay... I'll call you tomorrow... Tell everyone 'Hi' for me... Thanks again. Bye", she finished the phone call and put down the phone.

"She'll call if she finds out anything", she told Cordelia. "I got that already", Cordelia answered. Buffy looked around herself, finding it odd that no one was around, but she still had the tell tale sign that Angel was near.

"I'm just gonna check on Angel", she stated and headed to the stairs, missing the eye roll Cordelia gave her. She knocked on the door before entering the bedroom, finding Angel sitting on the bed, staring at the crib with a deep frown.

"Are you brooding again?" she asked and slowly he directed his gaze to her.

"No", he answered but seeing her disbelieving look, amended, "Okay, I was. I was just thinking."

"Which isn't always a good sign", she stated and closed the door before coming to sit next to him. He raised an questioning eyebrow at her.

"Are you saying I'm just a pretty face?" he asked with mock seriousness.

"Of course not... You've got a pretty body too", she answered with a smirk, sharing a smile with him. After a while, she turned serious. "So what were you brooding about?" she asked.

"The baby will be born soon", he started and she nodded, not saying anything as she waited for him to continue. "What if the birth starts during the day?" he questioned with a hint of anxiety in his voice.

"That really doesn't matter since I'm going to give birth here, no speeding to the hospital, getting stuck on traffic or any of that stuff", she stated.

"Are you sure about that?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. As you know, I hate hospitals, I would be even more nervous about being there than giving birth. Here I can stay in my own surroundings, eat and drink when I want, no waiting, no other patients. We'll get a midwife and no problemo", she explained her plans.

"But what about when the baby is born?"

"Hey, I'm the one that has to give birth to the baby and what I've heard it's not a ride in the park. And it's not like I can give birth in a hospital through the haze of epidural and laughing gas", Buffy reminded him and he offered her a sympathetic smile. She cupped his cheek and looked him straight in the eye.

"Angel, you're gonna be a wonderful father. We're gonna do this together and we have more help than we need. Here we have Cordy, Gunn and Wesley, in Sunnydale we have the whole gang and my mom, we're not alone", she assured him. He gave her a half smile and covered her hand with his.

"Okay, panic attack over", he repeated her earlier words and pulled her into a tender kiss.

XXX

It was late in the evening and Gunn had gone off to his date with Mimi. Buffy was feeling anxious, the slayer in her was screaming to got to patrol and she did everything she could to keep her mind out of going out. She even tried to convince Cordelia into training but the brunette refused, three times a week was enough for her.

The phone rang and Wesley answered it. "Buffy, Willow wants to talk to you", he said offering the phone to her. She nodded and hurried to the phone.

"Willow? What you find out? Oh?" Everyone could tell by the look on her face that it wasn't good news. "Okay, thanks... Goodnight", she finished the phone call and set the phone down, a deep frown marring her face.

"Bad news?" Angel asked, making his way to her.

"You could say that", she answered and turned to Cordelia. "Willow e-mailed the information to you", Buffy said and Cordelia went to the computer, quickly logging in on her e-mail account.

"Oh-oh", she sighed as she opened the first page.

"What is it? Or am I too afraid to ask?" Buffy asked and walked behind her, looking at the screen over Cordelia's shoulder.

"It appears that Gunn's girlfriend isn't what she seems to be. First of all she moves town every fifteen years and she's done it for over hundred years", Cordelia answered. "I knew there was something wrong with her!" she exclaimed loudly after a brief pause. She would never admit it but sharing all the attention with Buffy was bad enough without some busty maneater, for almost two years she had been the girl of the group.

"What are you talking about?" Angel asked and went to the two women with Wesley following.

"The woman Gunn and Wes were drooling over is over hundred years old", Cordelia stated.

"Miss Parker is..." Wesley started not believing it. "A demon. We're not sure what but there's higher than normal mortality rate among young men when she's in town", Buffy interrupted him.

"How can you be sure she has anything to do with it?" he questioned still not believing that the beautiful young woman he met could be a murdering demon.

"Willow sent a bunch of police files, don't wanna know how she got them, and there's a mention of few dates with a young woman, victim being tired and next thing you know, Bang! He's dead, the report say they're like drained from energy", Cordelia explained.

"And Gunn is on a date with her!" Buffy yelped in realization and everyone jumped into movement.

"Okay, we need to go there, get him back here and find out what she is. Cordelia, stay with Buffy", Angel ordered and hurriedly grabbed an axe from the wall before leaving the hotel with Wesley following.

"Okay, since the guys are on the rescue mission, I guess it's left to us to read all the gruesome details", Buffy sighed, she was actually feeling jealous that she couldn't go with them. Now she knew how the scoobies felt like when they didn't get to come with when she was fighting the newest baddie.

"Eww! You get the coroners reports", Cordelia stated with a disgusted expression and started printing the pages.

Two hours later Angel and Wesley dragged a crumbled looking Gunn through the door and set him down to the first chair they could find. "Cordy, get the medical box", Angel ordered and without hesitating Cordelia went to find it.

"What happened?" Buffy asked and made her way to the three men.

"It seems miss Parker was a demon that consumes life force of young men and Gunn was the next intended victim", Wesley explained.

"So I read all the coroners reports for nothing. Ygh!" Buffy muttered, then turned her attention back to Gunn who was struggling to stay conscious. "So she got all the way into the whole lifesucking thing. I hope you chopped her head off."

"As a matter a fact, Angel did", Wesley stated.

"He looks really drained. Wes, get one of those vitamin thing drinks from the kitchen. And power bars, if the demon drained him from energy he's gonna need some back", Buffy ordered and with a nod Wesley hurried to the kitchen, almost colliding into Cordelia who was returning with the medical box.

"I think we should take him to a bed", she stated looking at the man up and down.

"You're right", Angel stated and lifted Gunn to his shoulder, going upstairs with the two women following. They went to the first clean enough room and Angel lowered Gunn to the bed. Gunn coughed painfully, rushing into full consciousness. Buffy started cleaning the wounds and soon Wesley brought the drink and food. Slowly Gunn's strength started coming back but not enough for him even to sit up.

"I'm thinking of swearing off women", he croaked.

"Look on the bright side, none of us is ever gonna have a normal relationship. I'm gonna have a baby to a 240+ vampire, Cordy's boyfriend tried to feed us to a giant snake demon for fortune" Buffy paused long enough to slap Angel who was starting to brood after mentioning the incident, he was still having jealousy issues about that, "Back in Sunnydale Xander had a crush on a teacher that turned out to be a giant praying mantis, next was a Inca mummy girl and now he's dating an ex-vengeance demon. Willow's first boyfriend was a demon robot and the next a werewolf, and my mom's boyfriend turned out to be a robot. So you're not alone on the freakish relationships", Buffy said helpfully.

"That's not really assuring", Gunn stated.

.

To be continued...


	17. Moving on

**A/N:** Thank you for all the reviews, they really are appreciated.

* * *

Chapter 17: Moving on

"Oof!" Buffy breathed out as the baby kicked her hard. Cordelia stopped hitting the punching bag and turned to her friend with concern written all over her face. "You okay?" she asked with a frown.

"I'm fine. Just the baby is practicing along side with you. Let's just say, Auw!" Buffy answered clutching her stomach.

"You need a break?" Cordelia asked somewhat hopefully, she knew she was in great shape but she wasn't a slayer, she was normal human who couldn't keep doing the sets Buffy had shown, without tiring rather quickly. But she had too much pride to just ask for a break. Buffy sensed her need for a time to catch her breath and she nodded.

"Yeah, why not", she said and walked to the bench Angel had set for her so she didn't have to stay on her feet. She toed off her shoes and sighed in relief, wiggling her toes.

"We should do something about Gunn", Cordelia suddenly changed the subject and Buffy forgot the baby's kicks as she turned to look at her, not sure what the brunette meant.

"What?"

"Gunn. He's all mopey and broody because Miss 'Low-cut dress' turned out to be a energy sucking demon. Angel already handles the brooding for everyone", Cordelia explained while going to the chair and grabbing a towel from it. She wiped the beads of sweat off her face before draping it over her shoulder and taking a long drink from her water bottle.

"Angel doesn't brood all that much anymore", Buffy defended and Cordelia turned to look at her, giving her a look telling she was wrong and off topic.

"Well he doesn't. But what can we do about Gunn?"

"We'll just keep his mind on other things. He likes to kill things to relieve stress", Cordelia answered thinking of things that might help. "But I'm not getting a vision for him!" she added sternly, placing her hands on her hips. Buffy chuckled shaking her head.

"I think that you don't have any choice in the matter", she stated but Cordelia's opinion didn't waver.

"I know! We'll take him to that new club", Cordelia said excitedly, truth be told, she herself needed a way to get her thoughts off the creepy crawlies and most of all, Preston. Not that she'd ever admit it.

"Somehow I doubt a dance club is really Gunn's thing", Buffy stated gently.

"You might be right", Cordelia sighed, there went her great idea.

"How 'bout an actual bar? Alcohol is the universal way to numb your brain", Buffy suggested and Cordelia looked pointedly at her stomach. Buffy glanced down then back to Cordelia.

"Hey, I'm not saying I'm going to drink anything. I'm pregnant, besides, I've learned my lesson when I went to that frat party with you", she stated, strategically leaving out the whole fiasco with the beer at the Bronze, not one of her greatest moments, the whole deal was something she wanted to forget ever happening, especially what lead to it. She still couldn't believe it. Cordelia looked like she was considering the idea, finally she just shrugged.

"Okay, fine. I guess it's better than nothing", she said again shrugging her shoulders. She took another drink of water and threw the towel to the chair. "Are we done now?" she asked anxious to get off the sweaty clothes. Buffy smiled at the airy tone and nodded.

"Sure, why not. I'll talk to Angel about the night out, you handle Gunn", she answered with a shrug and started to move the equipments off the floor.

"Oh, like Angel would let you go anywhere unchaperoned", Cordelia answered rolling her eyes and started to helping with the moving.

XXX

Angel parked the car on the other side of the street from Caritas and the group crossed the street, Buffy and Cordelia keeping the tail. Cordelia slowed down her pace and turned to look at Buffy.

"Do you really think that a demon bar is a good place to take him to forget his demony ex?" she questioned obvious to the fact that the man in question might hear her.

"It's because of Angel, so he can drink too", Buffy answered.

"But he can't! He's our designated driver", Cordelia protested. Buffy looked at her with a mix of amusement and questioning.

"Drink as in eat", she explained and Cordelia looked somewhat embarrassed by her outburst, noticing that the others had stopped by the door and were looking at her. "What?!" she shot at the men and walked past them into the karaoke bar. The others followed close behind her. They were about to seek an empty table when they came to a sudden stop as they saw Lindsey on the stage, singing and playing guitar.

"Wow, he actually can sing", Buffy stated in wonderment, there were things that Lindsey hadn't lied to her about, who would've thought.

"Yeah, for an evil guy he's got a great voice", Cordelia agreed, her eyes glued to the stage.

"He's okay", Angel muttered glaring at the man that had mesmerized his team and girlfriend.

"Oh come on, he's better than just okay", Gunn said. "I quite agree", Wesley added his own two bits into the conversation. Angel's frown only deepened. Buffy turned her gaze from the stage to him and smiled sympathetically. She touched his arm and smiled wider as he turned to look at her, he was so cute when he was jealous.

"There's no need to be jealous", she said with amusement clear in her voice.

"Yeah, so what if he's better singer than you. Way better. I mean way, way better", Cordelia said still looking wistfully at the singing lawyer. Angel's frown deepened even further.

Lorne who was standing by the stage, spotted the group by the bar and quickly made his way to them. "Hello there. I haven't seen you here in a while. You're not here to sing are you?" he asked, looking at Angel almost accusingly.

"No. What kind of friends would we be if we'd let him go after that?" Cordelia answered signing at Lindsey, she really didn't want to hear another Barry Manilow song coming from Angel.

"No, we're not here to sing. Just thought it would be good to get out for a change", Buffy answered shooting glares at Cordelia who didn't see them since she was too busy listening to Lindsey with her eyes fixed on him.

"Oh good", Lorne sighed relieved, then his eyes lowered to Buffy's expertly covered stomach. "Well, look at you, honeybun, you are practically glowing. The impending motherhood suits you", he said rubbing her belly and getting a kick from the baby. He smiled more widely at that.

"Who's gonna be a little soccer player", he cooed at the bump.

"Lorne, could you keep it down a little. We're not exactly announcing it to the world. And you're not really seeing the baby as a soccer player cause it's gonna be a bitch to wash those clothes", Buffy frowned.

"Oh, mum's the word. I will be all secretive, like a character in a film-noir film", he promised, then shifted his gaze back to her stomach that despite it's size wasn't obvious to someone who didn't know to look. "But uncle Lorne reserves the right to babysit the bundle if needed."

"I don't know if Angel is going to let him...", at Angel's look she added, "or her, out of his sight till thirty, if even then", Buffy said with a chuckle.

"Well, mom and pops are going to need some alone time, then I'll be your demon."

"We'll let you know", Buffy smiled. Lindsey finished the song and the crowd burst into cheers, surprisingly even Wesley and Gunn were among them. He stepped down from the stage and walked to Lorne, only then noticing the group he was standing with.

"Man, that was tense", Gunn said in amazement and Lindsey looked at him strangely.

"I agree, it was quite a performance", Wesley added. "Wow", was all Cordelia could say.

"Are you people drunk?" Lindsey questioned, then his eyes landed on Buffy. "Buffy", he said her name, noticing that Angel stood straighter, glaring at him and draping his arm protectively around Buffy's waist.

"Chri..." Buffy started to answer, quickly realizing her mistake and her anger towards him returned. "Lindsey", she corrected more coldly.

She turned to the others, ignoring Lindsey. "You know what, guys, I think we should go somewhere else, my slayer senses are going all wonky in this company", she said and the others nodded in understanding. She turned to leave and Lindsey reached to stop her, but the low growl coming from Angel made him pull his hand back.

"We'll see you some other time, Lorne", Buffy said looking past Lindsey. The others gave their quick goodbyes to Lorne before leaving the place.

XXX

Buffy was sitting in the kitchen, moving her breakfast around the plate. A frown was marring her face and she was so deep in her thoughts she didn't even notice Cordelia walking in. For a moment Cordelia just looked at her before sitting down. Finally Buffy realized she wasn't alone and turned her attention to the brunette.

"So, what was the whole big on tension thing last night?" she asked despite seeing Buffy was reluctant to answer.

"Nothing", Buffy tried to evade it, but Cordelia was having none of it. She rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on, Angel getting all growly, Lindsey looking like someone insulted his mother, of course assuming he has one, and you getting all broody, doing your best Angel impression. The whole point of the trip was to get Gunn snap out of it and now I have to watch all three of you brood! It's getting depressive."

Buffy turned to look at the brunette, her face showing amusement and sadness at the same time. She sighed deeply, knowing Cordelia wouldn't give up till she answered.

"It's just... When Lindsey was pretending to be Christian, I considered him as a friend, someone who didn't know about the darkness in my life. I know it's always gonna be there, no matter what I do, and I've learned to accept it. But it was nice to know someone who didn't think of me as the slayer. He was easy to talk to and he had that whole southern gentleman thing going on, and I thought he liked me for me. But now I know it was all just a lie, it was just so Wolfram & Hart could mess with Angel's head and use me to do it", Buffy said the end bitterly. Cordelia looked at her with real sympathy and grabbed a hold of her hand.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but, have you considered that maybe it all wasn't just an act? I'm not defending him, but he did look a little hurt when you gave him the cold shoulder last night. I know he's all evil and that, but you're a easy person to be friends with."

Buffy looked at her friend, former high school nemesis, with conflicted emotions, she wanted to believe into what she was saying, but she also didn't want to get hurt. It already had been too painful to discover that there had been betrayal so close to home, despite the fact that she hadn't known Christian/Lindsey all that long, she had really liked him.

"You think I'm easy to be friends with?" she asked, deciding to ignore the whole issue with Lindsey for the time being, if she thought about him any more, she'd get a headache.

"Do I ever say what I don't think?" Cordelia questioned with a raised eyebrow and Buffy had to smile.

"I think we have established that during my demon infection period", she smirked and Cordelia resisted the snarky comeback, Buffy wasn't brooding anymore so she was satisfied.

"Okay, how'bout some comfort shopping, huh?" she suggested jumping up to her feet.

"Well, I need to get those plug things to the electric sockets", Buffy stated to herself thoughtfully.

"Okay, that's good enough excuse. Now but away that thing you've been poking and let's go", Cordelia said and pulled Buffy up from the table, dragging her out the door before she could change her mind.

XXX

Lindsey was sitting in his office, just staring out the window at the city. His brows were knitted into a deep frown as he mulled over his thoughts. He heard the door open and close and without looking he knew it was Lilah.

"What are you doing here, Lilah?" he asked still keeping his eyes on the window.

"Oh, just figured I'd stop by. You know, for someone who got a brand new hand, you're not using it to work", Lilah said and sat to the chair in front of the desk. Slowly Lindsey turned in his chair and guided his eyes to her.

"Somehow I doubt that, that's the real reason you're here."

Lilah sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. Some idiot messed up with my files, I need your copy of the Finn file", she answered. Lindsey looked at her for a moment, before sliding on his chair to the small filing cabinet and after putting the pin-code, pulled out a manila file. He locked the cabinet and slid back to the desk, handing over the folder to Lilah.

As Lilah settled into going through the file, Lindsey let himself wander back to his thoughts. She was looking at him over the edge of the papers with a scrutinizing eye as she glanced through the folder. Finally she sighed and put it down with a small frown on her face.

"What's the matter with you, Lindsey? You've been moody and depressive lately. Kinda like Angel. You're not developing conscious, are you?"

Lindsey shifted his eyes to her, not saying anything, just looking at her with his piercing gaze. But she didn't let herself be unnerved by it. "Maybe I'm reevaluating my life", Lindsey finally answered and Lilah rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on. Just because some pretty little blonde doesn't want to be friends with you anymore", she said with her voice dripping with sarcasm. He didn't say anything, just glared at her. Truthfully he did miss his friendship with Buffy, he knew it was based on a lie but he genuinely liked her and it had been freshing to meet with someone that wasn't rotten to the core.

"Don't you have work to do, Lilah?" he finally asked.

"Don't you?" she shot back and got off the chair, walking to the door. She turned around to look at him before opening it.

"Get your act together, Lindsey. Just a friendly advise", she said and left. Lindsey sank to the chair and turned his gaze back to the window, unconsciously rubbing the nearly faded scar on his wrist.

XXX

Lindsey walked into the hotel lobby, unconsciously rubbing his wrist that had just few days ago been a stub because of Angel. "What are you doing here?" Angel growled, startling Lindsey but he didn't allow himself to jump.

"I want to talk to Buffy", he stated looking into the vampire's eyes, there was no way he would back down.

"No", was all Angel said. "Why don't you let her decide that", Lindsey shot back.

"What do you want, Lindsey?" Buffy asked walking into the room from the office. Angel turned to look at her, clearly not happy that she was in the same room as Lindsey.

"Just talk."

"Isn't it a little late for that?" Buffy questioned, folding her arms in front of herself.

"Well, it might be if we don't talk now", Lindsey stated. Buffy looked at him as if trying to find answers, and Angel looked less and less happy by the moment.

"Fine, but you try anything funny and I'll cut your other hand", she threatened.

"Buffy, I don't think that's a good idea", Angel protested, he didn't trust Lindsey farther than he could throw him, which was a long way but still.

"Don't worry, we'll be just in the next room", Buffy said looking at Angel, then motioned Lindsey to follow before she walked into the room she used to train with Cordelia. Lindsey followed her and closed the door behind then, he still suspected Angel could hear the conversation.

For some time neither of them said anything, Buffy just stood there looking at him suspiciously, not letting herself relax in his presence, a fact that even the baby seemed to notice. She had trusted him once but not anymore, it could easily be a trick. "So talk", she said.

"I'm not gonna apologize", he stated and she raised an eyebrow in question. Not a way to usual way to start a conversation.

"So why are you here? And what's with the cryptic?" She was trying to act casual but she was keeping an eye on every move he made, even when he lowered the bag on his shoulder, she was ready for a fight.

"I left Wolfram & Hart", he stated, and again sh raised her eyebrows in question, she hadn't been expecting that.

"Why? What made you do that? I thought it was the only way for you not to become your father."

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna be a fighter for the cause, I just got tired of all the shit. Maybe I'll find another way not to become my father", he answered with a smirk. He wasn't leaving because he had suddenly seen the light, it wasn't even the contempt he'd seen in Buffy's eyes when she looked at him and it wasn't that he'd suddenly started to feel remorse for the things he'd done. It was simply that he had lost his motivation.

"They're not just gonna let you walk away so you can go and find yourself", she stated, still not letting he guard down, it could easily be a trick even though he looked like he was telling the truth. He nodded.

"Yeah, I know. It's gonna be interesting", he answered with a lopsided smile.

"Interesting? That's a stupid way of looking at it", she said, rolling her eyes and pulling a chuckle out of him. He really had missed her.

"I think I can handle it. But I'm not the only one they're not letting go. They are still gonna come after you and your child."

Instinctively, not even noticing it, her hand went to her stomach, covering it protectively. "I know. But they're not gonna get our baby", she stated fiercely.

"They've got more resources than you can dream of, they're not just gonna give up", he warned.

"I don't care. I don't care how many dirty tricks they've got in the sleeve, I don't care about any prophecies of what my baby's gonna be. All I care about is my family and I'm gonna protect them with everything I've got and a building full of lawyers is not gonna stop me", she said, her voice steady and showing her conviction. He chuckled, shaking his head and she sent a glare at his way. He turned to look at her, loosing the smile.

"Just stay alert, we don't play by the rules like white hats", he stated and Buffy noticed the form he used, well, she hadn't thought he would suddenly go straight and narrow. He picked up his bag from the floor, flung it over his shoulder and turned to leave.

"Lindsey", her voice stopped him and he turned to look at her. It still felt strange to hear her say his real name.

"Just... be careful. I may not like you very much anymore but I still don't want you to get killed", she said. She could still easily remember the time they were friends, or at least she thought they were, and sometimes it was hard to believe he was working for the bad guys. He just nodded and walked away, almost colliding into Angel at the door.

"So you're leaving?" Angel asked nodding to the bag on Lindsey's shoulder.

"Yeah. Los Angeles, you can keep it."

"Wolfram & Hart isn't just going to let you walk away, you know that don't you?" Angel said and Lindsey nodded with a small smirk playing on his lips.

"Yeah, it's gonna be interesting", he answered, he was very well aware of the fact that no one just walked away from Wolfram & Hart.

"That's a dangerous attitude", Angel stated and Lindsey almost chuckled at that.

"Buffy said it was stupid."

"Well, she's right."

"I'm not gonna be a white hat, a champion for the cause and all that crap. But take care of her, the company is gonna come after her with full force", Lindsey warned, then turned her gaze to the door he had left Buffy behind.

"She's hell of a woman", he said and turned to look at Angel. "And you don't deserve her", he added looking Angel straight in the eyes.

"Maybe. But she likes to make her own decisions", Angel stated and got a nod from Lindsey.

"Yeah, I've noticed. But I'm leaving and I don't care what you do with this town", he stated and walked out the door. Angel looked after him and frowned, he knew someone would replace Lindsey in Wolfram & Hart and that would probably be Lilah, but the problem was that there was going to be a new player and it would take a while to know his or hers style.

He walked to the room where Buffy was and smiled at the sight of her talking to the baby. He decided no matter what the Wolfram & Hart would do, he'd never let anything happen to his family, no matter what he'd have to do.

.

To be continued...


	18. Surprise

**A/N:** Thank you for all the reviews and for being patient with me. I know I've been slow with the updates on this story, real life is a bitch and I've been quite caught up with my other fic _Just one night_ but I'm not abandoning any of my stories even if the updates might be a bit slow.

* * *

**Chapter 18: Surprise**

Buffy was packing her bag as Angel sat on the bed, watching her intently with a deep scowl on his face. He didn't like it, not one bit.

"You're pregnant", he protested, causing her to roll her eyes and stop what she was doing, turning to look at him with mild amusement.

"I know", she stated with a smile tucking her lips. "But I'm not an invalid. Mom's been hounding me for a visit and I miss my friends. I promise I will be careful and stay indoors after dark", she continued and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead before grabbing a pile of clothes to pack. Still it wasn't enough to ease his mind.

"I could come with you", he suggested already knowing the answer. She stopped and turned to look at him, her head tilted to the side.

"You know you can't. You're swamped with cases, Gunn and Wes are handy but they can't handle all of them on their own. Come on, it's only for few days and I will pester you with calls daily. Think of it as a vacation from me."

"I don't want a vacation from you", he stated and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to stand between his legs. He looked at her with his dark eyes that always made her weak in the knees. Not loosing eye-contact with her, he pulled her shirt up, exposing her round stomach and pressed a soft kiss to her skin. She smiled down at him, threading her fingers into his hair and she leaned down into a kiss. It was brief but sweet, assuring him that she was still there.

"We can manage to be apart for few days", she said with a smile, but then she frowned, the smile disappearing. "Right?" she questioned not sounding all that sure about it.

He had to smile at the look on her face. He wrapped his arms a little more tighter around her and looked at her assuringly. "We can try", he smirked and let his hands slide under her shirt. She giggled shaking her head.

"Angel! I'm gonna miss the bus", she protested but moaned as his hands traveled up her back and he kissed her still exposed stomach, moving upwards.

xxx

Buffy walked from the bus station to her old apartment that Faith now occupied. She wanted to see her sister slayer first so she could give her undivided attention to her mother and the gang without thinking about slaying.

At the door, she lowered her bag and glanced at her watch, she was sure Faith was still sleeping, so she decided to just use the key she still had. She walked into the apartment closing the door behind her and set down the bag to the floor. She noticed that the coffee maker's light was on, so Faith must have been already awake.

"Faith?" she called out and as she thought she heard a noise, she headed towards it. She knocked on the bedroom door and opened it. "Oh God!" she breathed out and quickly turned around covering her eyes. She backed away from the door, closing it firmly but still not daring to open her eyes.

"Now I know how Cordelia feels", she muttered to herself, hurrying to the living room. She tried to get the image out of her head, she had seen all too much of Spike for her comfort, actually of Faith too for that matter.

"Hey, B. I didn't know you were coming", Faith said coming from the bedroom, pulling on a white t-shirt and fastening her jeans.

"I know. I decided to drop by before going to mom's. But I'm thinking I should have called", Buffy stated still red with embarrassment, but Faith didn't seem shaken at all.

"It's okay. It seems the post-slaying session stretched out a little", Faith said, walking to the window and peeking through the curtains into the sunny morning.

Buffy shifted uncomfortably. "You and Spike", she said painfully, she couldn't believe it and she really wanted to forget what she had seen.

"Stop blushing, B. It's just sex", Faith chuckled.

"But why Spike of all peopl... men?!" Buffy questioned.

"Come on, B. It's not like I'm in love with the guy or anything. It's purely a carnal thing. You of all people should know the pro's of vamp stamina and that boy has some serious skills", Faith smirked and Buffy raised a hand to stop her from talking any more.

"I really don't want to know about his... skills", she stated closing her eyes as if it would block the thought from her head.

"Stop the blushing, Slayer, you're carrying the Poof's spawn so don't act all virginal", Spike's voice came from the bedroom door. Buffy's eyes snapped open and she directed her eyes towards the voice, finding him buckling his belt.

"Shut up Spike or I'll open the curtains", she threatened annoyed by him. It was bad enough she had seen more of Spike than she ever wanted to see but now he was looking so damn gleeful as well.

"Oh come off it, we both know you'd never do it, you're all talk", he said confidently, heading towards the kitchen.

"Want to test that theory? My hormones tend to be all over the place these days", she said glaring at the bleach blond vampire.

Spike willed himself to act indifferent to her threat and just pour himself a cup of coffee. Truthfully he was starting to reconsider annoying the slayer while she was pregnant, he had heard women could be unbalanced while expecting and he had no desire to turn into an ash pile.

"Speaking of the babe, how is she doing?" Faith asked, she too was convinced the baby would be a girl. She placed her hand to the pregnant stomach and smirked as the baby kicked where her hand was. "From the look on your face back there, I thought you were going to pop the kid right there and then", she chuckled, the horrified expression on Buffy's face when she walked into the bedroom was going to entertain her for years.

Buffy groaned and glared at the dark slayer. "Shut up, Faith", she commanded and halfheartedly slapped the brunette. "And the baby is doing fine, growing fast", she answered the original question.

"Yeah, we can see that", Spike stated from the kitchen and pointedly looked down to her protruding stomach.

Buffy turned to glare at him. "One more word and I'll pull the curtain", she threatened, she was already self-conscious of her constantly changing body without Spike reminding her. Spike raised his hands in surrender and wisely stayed silent.

xxx

Next Buffy went to see her mother but she didn't stay long as Joyce had to go to the gallery, so she decided to bum a ride to Giles' apartment. She knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer, she had learned her lesson not to walk in without confirming it was safe.

"It is open", Giles called from the inside and Buffy stepped in, finding the gang already gathered by the table. "Hey", she greeted, she hadn't been expecting everyone to be there. "What you guys doing here?"

"We're helping G-man with the research and WOW! How many are you having?" Xander yelped as he turned to look at Buffy and his eyes landed on the bump. He was stunned by the sight of her protruding stomach on her small frame, it had grown a great deal since the last time he saw her.

Buffy shot him a glare, she was already self-conscious enough of her growing figure despite how many times Angel tried to convince her of how beautiful she looked. Willow slapped Xander in the arm and apparently it made him realize how his words sounded.

"I didn't mean it like a bad thing. But look at you, you're..." he started correcting himself, signing towards her stomach and got slapped again by Willow. "Okay, why don't I get a shovel so I can dig myself a hole faster", he stated to himself and wisely quieted.

"Xander is right. You are very large", Anya said nodding her head. "The baby must be progressing very well, congratulations", she added with a wide smile.

Buffy looked at her strangely, just a minute ago she was ready to burst into tears and now she didn't know what to say to the ex-demon. "Thanks. I guess", she said awkwardly and walked into the living room, sitting down to the couch. She toed off her shoes, her feet were killing her.

"So what are you researching?" she asked as she tried to get into a comfortable position on the couch.

"Oh, there's a new bad guy in town. Declared his name to be Francois the Invincible", Willow answered.

"And how lame name is that? Francois the Invincible?! Come on", Xander commented, clearly not believing it.

"What is he? A vampire?" Buffy asked with a frown, obviously the best names were already taken, like Scourge of Europe or William the Bloody.

"Yeah, we've found some stuff on him already, we're just checking his habits and stuff", Willow said, putting down the book and coming to sit next to Buffy. She smiled brightly at the blond, clearly wanting to feel the baby but before she could ask, Giles walked into the room, explaining,

"His name comes from the fact that he has faced several slayers and lived to tell. Well, he couldn't kill the slayers either but obviously he has started to believe that he is in fact invincible. Would you like some tea?"

"Umm.. sure. Do you have those calming ones, the baby is kinda angsty."

"Yes, certainly", Giles said and made his way to the kitchen. He was clearly uncomfortable talking about the baby, wanting to avoid the subject and his behavior was making Buffy suspicious.

Willow looked at her with concern written all over her face. "Is there something wrong with the baby? Should I call Tara to come and do an aura reading?"

Buffy gave her best friend a calming smile, clearly touched by her concern. "No, there's nothing from with the baby. It's just the separation from Angel. But it's so sweet of you to..." her voice hitched and she couldn't finish the sentence. Tears were glistering in her eyes and again Willow was getting worried.

"Buffy?" she questioned uncertainly and Buffy smiled through her tears.

"It's just these hormones", she explained sniffing and wiping her tears.

"You okay, Buff?" Xander asked trying to conceal his concern with carefree tone, seeing Buffy crying brought up a lot of suppressed memories of Angelus.

"I'm fine", she choked out with a smile. She turned her gaze to Willow who was still looking worried. "I'm fine. Really. It's just that these days I'm happy in one minute and bawling like a baby on the next", she explained and inhaled sharply as the baby kicked. "Ooh", she breathed out looking down to her stomach, then turned her attention back to Willow.

"Would you like to feel the baby?"

Willow's eyes widened and she looked almost scared. "Really?" she asked with enthusiasm, her voice a mix of fear and happiness. Buffy laughed and took Willow's hand into hers, placing it over her stomach. The baby kicked to where Willow's hand was and her face broke into a wide happy smile.

"That's amazing!" she cried out, her smile only widening if it was possible. "Xander, you have to feel this", she said turning to look at the only male in the room.

Uncertainly Xander got off the table and made his way to the sofa. He looked at the bump like it was another life form. "The baby isn't going to bite, maybe kick but not bite", Buffy said amused and gently took his hand, placing it on her stomach. He felt the baby moving under his hand before it gave a good kick, startling him.

"Wow!" he yelped with a crooked smile on his lips. "Must be taking after the mother", he stated.

In the kitchen Giles gathered the cups, cookies and teapot to a tray and he was about to pick it up when his eyes landed on to the book on the table. He ignored the tray and grabbed the book. Glancing at the living room to make sure the group was not looking, he hid the book into a cabinet and grabbed the tray, walking into the living room like nothing had happened.

"Tea", he announced and set the tray down to the coffee table.

xxx

Two men in expensive suits walked into the hotel lobby, looking around themselves. "Can I help you?" Cordelia asked, setting down the magazine she had been flipping through and walking around the receptionist desk to meet the men.

"No, thank you. We are just looking", the other man stated dismissing Cordelia.

"Why?" she asked suspiciously. "This isn't an actual hotel."

"We know", the man said not even looking at her.

"Angel!" Cordelia called out, the two were giving creepy vibes. Angel walked into the lobby after hearing Cordelia's call and his eyes landed on the two men. He noticed Cordelia returning back behind the counter, looking at the men suspiciously.

"Can I help you?" he asked stopping in front of them.

The other man dug a business card from his jacket pocket and handed it to Angel. "I am Gavin Park, this is my associate Mr Hayes. We're from the Wolfram & Hart, the company is considering on buying this building."

Angel looked at the man hard, then handed the card back to him. "Not gonna happen", he stated.

"Well that isn't for you to decide. Your lease is due in six months and Wolfram & Hart is very interested in this building. Do you mind if we look around?" Gavin asked putting the card back to his pocket.

Angel glared at him and crossed his arms on his chest, looking very intimidating. "Yes, I do mind. Get out", he ground out. Gavin held his ground as his associate looked ready to piss his pants. As the two didn't seem to be moving towards the door, Angel slipped into his game face. "Leave now or I'll throw you out."

"You seem to be forgetting it's day outside", Gavin said confidently and nodded towards the door.

Angel gave him a smile that would have made Angelus proud. "I can throw you out of that door without going near it", he stated.

"We will inform your realtor of your lack of cooperation", Gavin threatened and Angel resisted the need to roll his eyes. He held his ground and watched as the two men walked out the door. He turned around with a sigh and made his way to the receptionist counter. Apparently this Gavin-guy was the new player taking Lindsey's place.

"Are you evil?" Cordelia asked, her fingers itching towards the drawer that held a wooden cross.

"What?" Angel asked not understanding the sudden question.

"You looked all growly. Did you turn evil?" she clarified.

Angel suppressed a laugh, it wouldn't convince her of his innocence. "No, I'm not evil, Cordelia. But I ask you not to tell Buffy about what they said, I don't want her to get worried."

"Sure. But you have to tell her some time", she pointed out, giving him a scrutinizing look. She had actually become good friends with Buffy, it was a new experience for her since every woman friend she'd had didn't hesitate to stab her in the back. And that was why she didn't like keeping things from Buffy, she was the first real female friend she had.

"I know, but not until after the baby is born, I don't want her to get stressed", Angel answered nodding his head. Stress wasn't good for the baby or the mother and she had enough on her mind as it was. Besides, from what he had seen, Gavin wasn't going to be as hard assailant as Lindsey was but that didn't make him take the matter any less seriously.

xxx

Buffy was sitting on the bed, snuggled under the covers ready to go to sleep. It was strange to be in her old room again and the fact that Angel's cool body wasn't lying next to her didn't help the matter any. She sighed deeply and grabbed the phone, quickly dialing the number. A smile rose to her lips when his soft voice answered from the other end.

"Hey", she breathed into the phone and without even thinking, he replied by saying her name like it was a prayer.

"I miss you", she stated with a pout and Angel could distinctively hear it in her voice. He smiled, he could almost see it.

"I miss you too. How is everyone", he changed the subject to keep her and his mind off the loneliness the empty bed brought. He shed his shirt off, he was heading off to bed since he had already handled the evening patrol. It was a habbit he had picked up again after Buffy came back to his life.

"Everyone is fine. The gang was researching at Giles' place and I had the most traumatic experience of my life when I went to see Faith", she said to the phone and turned to her side, getting into a more comfortable position.

"What? What happened?" Angel questioned with concern lacing his voice. He started pacing around the room, million possibilities running through his mind.

"Calm down. You're not gonna believe this but... Faith and Spike have a... umm... an affair", she said.

Angel stopped dead on his tracks, he wasn't sure if he had heard it right. "I thought you said..." he started to say but she interrupted him.

"Yeah, you heard me. Faith and Spike."

"Faith and Spike?" He didn't see that one coming. "Faith and Spike are dating", he clarified.

"Not really dating. In her words it's purely a carnal thing."

Angel tried to shake the images out of his head, it frighteningly looked like he wasn't getting rid of Spike any time soon. "Umm... how is the baby?" he changed the subject into something he'd rather think about than Spike. She chuckled, apparently he was learning the fine art of suddenly changing the subject.

"The baby is fine, been kicking and turning like crazy, missing you but after I drank Giles' tea, he..."

"Or she", he interrupted her.

"Or she, calmed down", she finished with a smile on her lips.

He held the phone between his head and shoulder as he removed his pants and folded them on to a chair before getting into the bed. Buffy could hear him moving on the other end of the phone and a lazy smile rose to her lips as she created the scene in her mind. "So how are the things there?" she asked.

"Nothing much. I met Lindsey's replacement."

She frowned. "What happened?"

"Nothing much. I think we need to worry about Lilah more than him", he stated.

"Lindsey was good at screwing with your head, wasn't he", Buffy said ruefully, Lindsey's betrayal was still a sour subject for her and Angel could hear it in her voice. But he was also glad that it deterred her attention away from the new player Wolfram & Hart had sent after them.

"Yes, he was", he stated, he didn't like the pain in her voice, it made him want to go after Lindsey and teach him a lesson. She sighed and awkwardly turned to her other side, it was getting more and more difficult each day. She stifled a yawn, it seemed like she was getting tired more easily too, another fact that she didn't like.

"Did I mention I miss you?" she asked bringing a smile to his face.

"I think you said that. And I miss you too", he answered.

"I guess we should try to get some sleep", she stated through her yawn. She was tired but she doubted she would get a good night's sleep, she never did without Angel next to her.

"Get some rest. I'll call you in the morning", he said with a small half smile.

"Okay. Goodnight. I love you", she said to the phone, fighting against another yawn.

"I love you too. Goodnight", he answered and hung up the phone. He placed it to the nightstand and turned to his side, facing the depressive sight of an half empty bed. He sighed deeply and reached for her pillow. He breathed in the scent still clinging to it and laid his head on it, closing his eyes, waiting for sleep to come.

.

To be continued...


	19. Incognito

**A/N:** My internet connection was down for three days because of some glitch with the company so I couldn't update sooner. But once again, hope you're not getting tired of hearing this... THANK YOU for the reviews.

**A/N2:** And to Brandi, I really hadn't looked at the tea thing from that point of view so if it looked suspicious, it wasn't intentional. Heh, or was it? *evil smirk*. No, really, it wasn't.

* * *

**Chapter 19: Incognito**

Giles sipped his tea with a deep frown on his face. He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes, he had barely had any sleep at night. He set the cup down and grabbed the phone. While dialing he couldn't help but miss his old phone.

"Hello? Wesley? - Yes, this Giles. - Very well, and you? - That is good to her. But the reason I phoned is, I found something I believe you would like to see and I was thinking of sending the papers through fax. I know a fellow who has one and I would rather not send this kind of information through the post. - Yes. - How about Angel and Cordelia, are they going to..." He chuckled as he heard Wesley's response. "Well, I would keep my distance on those things as well, but I'll try my luck this time. - I have some errands to run but I'll send the papers once I have the time. - Yes, you as well. Goodbye."

He hang up the phone and went to the kitchen, pulling out the book and papers from the cabinet. He looked through them once more with a frown on his face. He put them into a briefcase and after few arrangements, he left the apartment to deal with his errands.

Nearly two hours later he walked into an office building and made his way into one of the offices. He knocked on the door.

"It's open!" a male voice called out, not sounding very happy.

Giles opened the door and peeked in. "Is this a bad time?" he questioned and a wide smile rose to the man's face.

"Rupert! Good to see you. Nah, I just thought it would be that imitation of a woman down the hall, she's been breathing down my neck the entire morning", he answered, giving a dismissive wave of a hand, then signaled Giles to come in. Giles stepped in and closed the door.

"It's good to see you also, Marcus", he said and shook the man's hand. "Do you mind if I use that machine of yours?"

"As I said on the telephone, no I do not mind. You go ahead and use it, we can catch up while I get some work done", Marcus said and went back to sit by his desk.

Giles went to where the fax machine was set and started to work with it. Despite his tries to get it send the papers forward, the machine started to bleep and flash lights at him. He tried pushing the buttons but nothing seemed to happen. "Blasted thing!" he growled and resisted the urge to hit the uncooperative machine.

"Still not a fan of technology, Rupert", his friend chuckled and Giles sent a glare at his way.

"It seems technology does not like me very much. And the feeling is mutual", he stated, glaring at the fax machine.

Marcus laughed. "Why don't I see what I can do with it", he said and made his way to the table. He pulled the stuck paper out and reprogrammed it. But again the machine started beeping and flashing lights. "Damn useless piece of rubbish!" Marcus cursed.

"See", Giles said almost gleefully, apparently he wasn't the only one having trouble with it. Marcus glared at him and angrily hit the side of the fax. The lights stopped blinking and it seemed to continue working.

xxx

Lilah strolled into the Hyperion lobby and looked around herself, it seemed deserted. She frowned as she looked at her surroundings, every cabinet was locked. She wasn't sure if it was safety precautions for the coming baby or because they had finally got smart. She chose the first option.

She sighed, there was no reason to snoop around since everything seemed to be behind locked door and she couldn't use psychological warfare when no one was around. She was on her way to the door when the sound of the fax machine made her stop. A smile rose to her lips as she turned around and made her way to the receptionist desk while keeping an eye on the stairway. She grabbed the papers at the rate as they came and quickly scanned the content. Her interest peaked as she recognized the marks as something very old she had seen on one of the prophecies on Angel. Quickly she hid the papers into her case and headed to the door.

"What are you doing here, Lilah?" Angel's voice made her stop. She turned around with a cocky smile.

"Just came to check the quality of this dump. Wolfram & Hart is considering on buying this building, naturally I have my company's best interest at mind. So tell me, since you have the inside information on this, which room is the best?"

Angel folded his arms in front of him and gave her a withering look. "What are you really doing here, Lilah?" He wasn't on the mood for her games.

"Oh, I just thought you might be lonely now that the missus is out of town", she said innocently. Angel's face darkened as she mentioned Buffy. Lilah could see she was skating on thin ice, she might have been working for Wolfram & Hart but she still had plenty of self-preservation. Maybe Lindsey had been right, maybe the little slayer really was the way to get to him.

"You stay away from her", Angel ground out, fighting to keep his demon in check.

Lilah felt chills running down her spine but didn't show any emotion. "Why don't you go sunbathing, Angel", she snapped and headed towards the door. The papers in her briefcase were making her fingers itch. She had a feeling she was going to like what ever they held and she couldn't wait to find out.

But her journey to the door was interrupted when Angel grabbed her arm in a vice grip and spun her around to face him. "I know you're a smart woman, Lilah. So don't start acting stupid now. Stay away from Buffy", he growled and looking into his eyes, Lilah wasn't all sure if it was Angel anymore. His hold on her arm was cutting off the circulation and it was already starting to go numb. 'That's going to leave a bruise', she thought to herself. Angel pushed her back towards the stairs, letting go of her arm. She could feel the blood rushing back to her arm and unconsciously rubbing the spot his hand had been, she rushed to the door.

Angel stood in the lobby, trying to gather himself. His fists were clenching in the suppressed anger and he had to fight not to let his demon surface. "Did I hear someone talking?" Wesley's voice came from behind him.

"Lilah graced us with a visit", Angel stated.

"Oh", Wesley just said, then seemed to realize something else. "Has the fax machine gone off?" He walked around the receptionist desk to check the machine but found it empty.

"I haven't checked. Are you expecting something to come through?" Angel answered and turned to look at him.

Wesley shook his head. "No. Just wondering", he stated, it was too early to tell the others what he knew, especially to Angel and Buffy.

Angel watched him closely, wondering what he was hiding. He could hear his quickening heartbeat and it only confirmed his suspicion that Wesley wasn't telling the whole truth. But he trusted the former watcher, he had become his friend and he was sure the man would come clean once the time was right.

xxx

Buffy went to Giles' apartment, this time he was alone. "Have you seen Faith? She hasn't reported back in two days, not that it is unusual", Giles questioned as Buffy lowered herself to his couch.

"Yeah, I saw her when I got here. She said she's been doing some extra sweeps, even the cemeteries that are slow and had Spike handling the ones she's not", she answered and struggled to bend down enough to remove her shoes. She was glad that Giles was the only one there to see her. Finally she managed to release her feet from the binding things and settled into trying to find a more comfortable position. "Sorry. I know this looks funny and is annoying but the huge stomach really doesn't agree with me", she said and continued shifting on the sofa.

"Yes, I believe it might be... difficult", Giles said awkwardly and removed his glasses, looking away as he polished them with his handkerchief.

"That's putting it mild", she answered and sighed in relief as she finally found a position that didn't hurt her lower back. "Ow!" she cried out as the baby kicked.

Giles jumped in alarm and turned to look at her. "Are you alright? Is something wrong?" he questioned nearly frantic.

"I'm fine", she said with a pout, then continued almost accusingly, "The baby just has been kicking my ribs all day."

Again Giles removed his glasses, polishing them and jumped to his feet. "Tea?" he suggested. She looked up to him, little suspicious of his behavior.

"Sure. Do you have that same one as the last time? It seemed to calm the baby."

"Umm... Yes, I believe I still have some", he answered and hurried to the kitchen.

Buffy looked after him with a frown but her attention was drawn back to her stomach as the baby kicked once again. "Would you stop that, we're not going back home in two days", she said to the bump and was rewarded with yet another kick. "Boy, you're stubborn", she sighed.

Some time later Giles returned from the kitchen with a tray. He set it on the coffee table and awkwardly Buffy shifted enough to sit on the edge of her seat so she could reach the cup. They drank their teas and talked about nothing in particular. During the many topics of conversation going from her mother to Cordelia's career, Buffy noticed he seemed to be avoiding mentioning her pregnancy or if it came up, he quickly changed the subject. But she decided to put it under the fact that he was like a father to her and didn't want to think about how she got pregnant.

She set down the second cup of tea she had drank and turned to look at him, remembering why she had originally came to see him. "Do you have the..." she started to ask but couldn't remember the name. "What ever the books name was..." she added trailing off and reached for her coat, digging into the pocket for the note Wesley had written for her. She smiled triumphantly as she found it but frowned as she read it and just opted into handing it to Giles. He read the note.

"I do have it but it's actually loaned to Faith", he stated.

Buffy gave him a questioning look. "Faith is reading that?" Somehow it seemed highly unlikely.

"She was interested in the many techniques to kill a Locha-demon, the book is very graphic about them", Giles stated.

Buffy glanced at the clock, stating that she had enough time to stop by Faith's apartment and then bum a ride from her mother. "Okay, I think I'll head to Faith's. Wes has been talking about that book for a week and I'll never hear the end of it if I forget it. Thanks for the tea and I'll see you later", she said and grabbed her coat, pulling it on.

"Yes, I'll talk to you later", Giles said and took off his glasses. As Buffy had left, he put them back on with a frown on his face.

xxx

Faith jogged to her apartment building, the patrol had been pretty much for nothing, just one freshly risen vampire. She was digging her keys at the door as she was violently pushed against it. She felt the air being knocked out of her lungs but managed to recover instantly. She spun around, facing her attacker, a vampire that was wearing the tackiest clothes she had ever seen.

"You're time has come, slayer", the vampire growled and despite the seriousness of the situation, she had to roll her eyes.

"Are we going to fight or are you just going to bore me to death?" she asked and with a angry growl he attacked.

They traded punches and Faith was surprised how strong the flamboyant vampire was. She managed to corner him against the wall and pulled a stake from her jacket, swiftly aiming it to the heart. But the vampire grabbed her hand mid-swing and with his other hand took a hold of the stake, snapping it in half.

"You have lost your weapon, slayer", he said and punched her, sending her staggering to the other side of the corridor. In a blink of an eye, he was standing in front of her and wrapped his fingers around her throat, pressing her against the wall behind her.

"You have the honor of being the first slayer I have killed. I shall relish on your blood", the vampire said, squeezing Faith's throat more tightly and leaned closer for the bite.

"Oh come on!" Buffy cried out from the door. "You talk as cheesy as your name is", she stated and threw the stake at him. Faith caught it from air and sank it down to the vampires back, piercing the heart. The vampire looked at her in shock before crumbling into ashes.

"Thanks, B", Faith said as she wiped the dust off her clothes.

"Any time", Buffy answered. Faith walked past her into the apartment and Buffy closed the door.

Faith threw the stake to the couch and lazily sat down next to it. "Not that I'm not glad, but what are you doing here? I thought you weren't supposed to be moving around after dark. Big man's orders, you know."

"It wasn't dark when I got here", she defended herself.

"So how come you're still here? It's been dark for hours" Faith asked and looked at the blond with scrutiny.

"Cause my feet were killing me and I fell asleep on the couch, that's why", Buffy said with a hard glare, she was tired and feeling grumpy. She had a craving for oranges and pickles but all Faith had stocked was noodles, beer and lumpy milk.

"I didn't see your car in the front", Faith stated, looking at Buffy with questioning eyes.

"I used the bus. Angel was all concerned I might get into an accident. Come on! It was he who taught me to drive", Buffy said and a smirk rose to her lips as she remembered those lessons. She shook herself out of the memories and took a more serious expression. "And he used the pregnancy clause. Plus he's all paranoid after what happened the last time I drove here by myself."

A frown formed to her lips as she thought about how she had met Lindsey. 'Stop it! You need to get over it!' she yelled at herself in her mind.

"Well, you can crash here. Just give your mother a call and you can sleep in the bed with me as long as you don't hog the covers", Faith promised and slowly started to rise from the couch. She turned to look at Buffy with amusement. "Don't worry, I'm not into pregnant chicks", she stated with a smirk.

"Haa haa", Buffy said sarcastically, pulling a giggle from Faith.

.

To be continued...


	20. Long day's journey home

**A/N: **Thank you for all the reviews. And yes, I know, it's been over a week since the last update but I've been on a flu for nearly two weeks so I haven't been writing that much in the fear of not understanding it even myself (since English still isn't my first language). Well, now I'm almost over the flu, no more fever so I'm back to writing. Hope you enjoy.

**

* * *

**

Chapter 20: Long day's journey home

Buffy opened her eyes and for a moment she just looked around herself, despite the time she had spent in her mother's house, she still needed some time to get used to waking up in her old room instead of her and Angel's bedroom with him next to her. Then again, she didn't even want to get used to waking up without him.

She shifted to her side and grabbed the phone from the nightstand, dialing the number she knew by heart. It didn't take long for him to answer. "I'm awake", she declared with a smile. They had agreed on that she would call him in the morning because he didn't want to take a chance on waking her up.

"So I hear", he answered getting up to sit on their bed. He ran his hand through his unruly hair and looked at the clock on the nightstand. "How did you two sleep?"

"Okay. But there was still something missing", she answered and added a pout to the last part even though she knew he couldn't see it.

"And what would that be?"

"You. I need my Angel-pillow to really sleep", she answered and fell back against the bed. She missed him. The calls didn't exactly make up for not seeing him.

Angel could hear the pout in her voice and just imagining it made a small smile appear to his lips. "Well, you're getting your pillow back in nine hours", he stated.

Buffy frowned. "Nine? But the bus leaves at six. Did I miss something?"

"You didn't miss anything. I figured I'd pick you up", he explained.

"Really?" She climbed to sitting up and slowly shifted towards the edge, setting her feet to the ground before pushing them into her fluffy slippers. "Do you want to talk to the baby?" she asked with a smile but there was a pause.

"I know you want to", she stated, at night when Angel thought she was asleep he talked to the baby in hushed tones, she thought it was so cute that she didn't mention it because she was afraid he might stop. "I'm gonna put the phone on my belly", she said to the phone and lowered it to her stomach.

She could hear Angel's soft voice on the phone but couldn't make out the words. Immediately as he started talking, the baby that had been calm through the night and whole morning, kicked. She smiled and placed her hand to her belly, the baby definitely recognized his or her father's voice, she was convinced of that.

After a while, she took the phone and placed it back to her ear. "Hey, it's me again. Did you two have a nice chat?"

"I was just telling I miss her mom", Angel answered with a smirk, he knew what was coming.

"Or his", Buffy reminded him with a smile.

"Or his", he amended. During his one sided conversation he had gotten off the bed and dressed. He wasn't going to leave the room since knowing Cordelia, she would hog the phone and the chances of getting it back any time soon would be slim to none.

"But now we're going to get breakfast. I'll call you back later. I love you", she said and got up to her feet.

"Okay, I let you go. I love you too and I'll see you soon", he said back and they hung up. Both of them headed downstairs, Angel in LA and Buffy in Sunnydale.

Buffy walked into the kitchen where Joyce was already sitting in the table with breakfast set. "Morning honey", she greeted with a soft smile.

"Morning", Buffy answered and poured coffee before sat down to the table.

"Should you be drinking coffee?" Joyce asked with a frown as she watched Buffy put sugar and milk on her coffee.

"Yeah, I get one cup of coffee in the morning", she answered and took a sip of the hot liquid. They ate their breakfast with polite conversation, Joyce carefully avoiding the subject of the man who had gotten her daughter pregnant.

Buffy swallowed the last piece of toast and frowned. "There wouldn't happen to be any oranges and pickles hidden away anywhere?" she questioned.

Joyce smiled and shook her head. "Sorry, only orange juice. Why oranges and pickles?"

Again Buffy frowned. "I'm having bit of a craving. I'm really scared what kind of eating habits this baby might develop since I want to eat the strangest combinations of food", she answered, she was sure if she wasn't pregnant the foods put together would have grossed her out.

"When I was pregnant with you, I just loved the beach. I used to spend hours there just sniffing the sand", Joyce said with a fond smile. She liked to remember the times when everything was blissfully normal, before her marriage fell apart, before her daughter got into trouble and before she became a slayer.

"Sniffing sand?" Buffy asked with a confused frown.

Joyce laughed. "Yeah, I had this weird thing for it. I actually forced your father to drive me there many times a day."

"Well, who am I to judge. I put mustard on Angel's fried eggs. I'll be one happy Buffy when the baby decides to come out and I'll be eating normal foods again."

"Well, it's natural to want strange things when you're pregnant", Joyce said and patted Buffy's hand. She had successfully managed to dodge the subject of Angel through out her daughter's stay, she had accepted the baby but was still getting used to Angel. She figured it was safest to avoid mentioning the man. "I need to get back to the gallery soon, will you be alright by yourself?" she asked and got off the table, starting to clean the dishes off the table.

"I'll be fine. But could I bum a ride to Giles' apartment?"

Joyce turned around to look at her daughter. "Again?" she questioned.

She couldn't help but feel jealous for Mr. Giles spending so much time with her daughter, for the past years he had been a large part on her daughter's life and she felt herself neglected. Mr. Giles was an adult, he could keep Buffy out of the harms way instead of pushing her towards it. Sometimes she really regretted moving to Sunnydale, maybe if she would have chosen another town everything would have been alright. She shook her head, no it wouldn't have been. What little Mr. Giles had told her about slayers, forced her to realize that they would have found Buffy and nothing would have been different, except maybe she wouldn't be expecting Angel's child.

"I just need to talk to him and it still is the scooby central despite me living in LA", Buffy answered and got off the table to help her mother. Joyce looked at her daughter, she really had grown up but then again, she hadn't been a child in many years.

"Of course you can get a ride, you shouldn't be walking long distances now", she finally answered the question, pushing her jealousy aside.

"And my feet agree with you", Buffy stated.

xxx

Buffy was sitting on the couch, sipping her tea when the phone rang. Without even thinking, she turned in her seat and answered the phone.

For a moment Wesley was confused to hear Buffy's voice on the other end, he was quite certain he had dialed Mr. Giles' number. With a frown he considered the possibility that he might be becoming absent minded British stereotype like on some horrid tv programs. "Buffy? Umm... I was certain I phoned Mr. Giles", he said to the phone.

"Yeah, you did. I'm at Giles' place. Do you want to talk to him?"

"That would be nice, yes", he answered and removed his glasses, rubbing them against his shirt.

"Giles! Phone!" she yelled towards the kitchen after covering the speaker with her hand. Giles appeared from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel and quickly made his way to the phone. "It's Wesley", Buffy told him and handed the phone.

"Wesley?" Giles said to the phone.

"Yes, good day, Giles. I'm sorry to bother you but I was wondering when you are planning on sending the papers."

Giles frowned. "That bloody stupid piece of wires didn't work apparently", he said and removed his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "It appears I must send the papers with Buffy", he stated and glanced at the woman in question. She was again sipping her tea, not paying any attention to him and he made a quick note to restock on the tea.

"Do you think it is safe? If the papers do contain as delicate information as you suspect..." Wesley didn't finish the sentence. He sighed tiredly and rubbed his forehead but it did very little to ease the headache he was going to have.

"I believe the papers will be safe with her and..." Giles stopped what he was saying and again turned to look at Buffy. Discreetly he went to another room to finish the conversation, not wanting Buffy to hear it. It was still too early to announce the news to everyone, he hoped he was wrong.

Buffy watched as Giles went to the other room, he had been acting strangely her whole stay and she was starting to suspect there was more to it than just awkwardness about her pregnancy. But her train of thought was interrupted as Willow and Xander walked in with their girlfriends.

"Hey there, big mama", Xander joked and got a slap on the ribs from his girlfriend.

"Do you want the pregnant lady to cry?!" she said accusingly then walked to Buffy, leaning closer to her like she was about to talk to a small child. "Please don't cry. I find the slayer in tears very disturbing."

Buffy just stared at the former demon, not sure how she should take it.

"Then it's a good thing you weren't around when Angelus was running loose", Xander commented and Buffy sent him a glare. She hadn't been offended by him calling her big mama, her emotions had been steady for the last few days but she still didn't like the hostility Xander showed towards Angel.

"So where's Giles?" Willow asked, trying to distract the conversation away from the disaster it was heading.

"He's on the phone", Buffy answered and signed towards the door. "So what are you guys doing here?" She turned her gaze back to her friends.

"We have a free period", Willow answered signing to her and Tara.

"I was just bored. And here was the safest bet to find you", Xander stated with a shrug.

"Hey, it's your last day here in Sunnydale, we could go to Espresso Pump or something. Just to... you know, hang. We haven't done it so often lately. The hanging I mean", Willow suggested, wringing her fingers nervously.

"Yeah, we need to get you away from these musty books and have some fun before you have to return to the life where you spend your days with Cordelia", Xander said with a smile.

"With your ex-girlfriend", Anya muttered not even trying to disguise her jealousy. She crossed her arms on her chest and glared at the man.

"Anya, honey. Cordy and me are over, done, finished, finito, never gonna happen", Xander assured her but she didn't seem to be softening.

"She's pretty", she stated.

"You're prettier", Xander tried to convince her. From that declaration Anya seemed to brighten a little, she stopped glaring at him but didn't loose the pout. Xander clapped his hands together as it seemed one catastrophe had been prevented, and turned to look at Buffy. "So what you say, Buff, are you willing to hit the town with your old buddies?"

"I could use some fresh air", Buffy stated with a shrug and got up to her feet. She went to the other room and immediately Giles stopped talking to the phone, turning to her with expectant expression. She grabbed a piece of paper and wrote a note to it, holding it for him to see.

He read it, 'I'm going out with the guys' and nodded as if giving his permission. He covered the phone with his hand. "Just be careful", he said and she gave him a smile.

"Of course", she said and left.

Giles shook his head and turned his attention back to the phone conversation. "Sorry about that, Buffy just informed me she is going out with the others. As for the matter we were discussing, I'm afraid the prophecy is from a reliable source. But first we have to confirm that it truly is talking about Buffy and Angel, we must be absolutely certain, without any room for a doubt..."

xxx

Buffy and the others had returned from their outing and were sitting in Giles' living room. They had stopped by the Summers house where Buffy said goodbye to her mother beforehand and brought her luggage to Giles' apartment.

Buffy was having a conversation with the wicca's when the door opened, interrupting them. Faith breezed inside and walked straight into the living room, falling to the armchair and taking a relaxed pose. "Faith? Not to be rude but what are you doing here?" Giles questioned with a frown while closing the door she had left open.

"To let you see I'm still alive and kicking, B here told me you were all worried about me", Faith explained looking at Giles innocently, then got off the chair to sit next to Buffy, forcing Willow to scoot away. "So how's my niece been doing?" Faith asked looking at the bump.

Buffy had to smile, it appeared everyone were convinced the baby was going to be a girl, only Tara didn't give an opinion and Buffy suspected it was because she knew which one the baby really was. "He or she is doing fine. Strangely kick-less", she answered.

Faith grinned and placed her hand on the belly. "Come on, give auntie Faith a good kick", she said.

"Don't encourage the baby", Buffy chastised and soon got a strong kick to the ribs.

"That's my girl", Faith grinned and the baby kicked again.

"The baby isn't even born yet and already you're a bad influence", Buffy said and gave Faith a playful glare. But as usual, Faith didn't seem to be affected by it.

"I thought you were supposed to be on that bus already", she stated looking at the blond slayer.

"Angel's gonna pick me up", Buffy explained and an smirk rose to Faith's lips.

"Couldn't wait, huh? When's the hubby coming?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Soon. Depending on how heavy his foot has been on the gas pedal."

"Well, then we've got just enough time to talk business before he gets here. Let's go outside, you look like you need some air", Faith said and practically dragged her sister slayer outside, this time closing the door behind her.

Willow looked after them with a frown on her face. "She's always whisking her away, it's like they have a private club. A club where we can't join", she said, she felt neglected now that Faith had straightened up. Tara took her hand, giving it a soft squeeze and offered a gentle smile to her girlfriend. Immediately Willow felt better, less alone. But Xander was glaring at the door, after a while he got up from the chair despite Anya's protest and headed to the door. He needed to know what was so important that it couldn't be discussed in front of them.

"So why are we here?" Buffy asked looking around herself, then turning to Faith. She knew it wasn't a slayer-talk just by looking at the brunette. Faith shifted on her feet, feeling uncomfortable.

"Just need a little favor."

"Shoot."

Again Faith changed her weight to another foot, she couldn't understand why she was feeling so uncomfortable, it wasn't like she was ashamed or anything. "Could you not tell the others about me screwing Spike. It's not like I'm ashamed or anything. But I'm on the shaky grounds with them, except for Giles, he's cool with me. Xander's the one with the biggest grudge, might be the whole popping his cherry and trying to strangle him thing, but I just want everything to go by smoothly till you're back in the game, you know."

Now it was time for Buffy to shift nervously. "Sure. I'm not gonna say anything to them. I'm still recovering from the trauma and having hard time believing it." She shook her head in disbelief, then turned to look at Faith. "I still can't believe it. You and Spike", she cried out.

Faith rolled her eyes. "Come on, Goldilocks, it's just sex, a normal bodily function", she said and pointedly looked at the blondes stomach.

"Oh this is rich!" came Xander's voice from the door and both women spun around to look at him. He didn't look happy. "Faith and Spike! Why am I not surprised?"

Faith glared at the man, it was none of his business what she did or who she did, he had no right to criticize her.

"It figures. You always wanted to be like Buff so now you're boinking the dead too", he said, his voice dripping with hostility. He didn't trust the brunette, she had tried to kill them all once but now everyone treated her like she was one of them, like nothing had happened. But he wasn't going to forget like everyone else did. Shacking up with Spike only made his stand stronger.

"Xander", Buffy chastised but the young man ignored her, his eyes sharply staring at Faith who was looking back at him without caving. She wasn't Buffy, she didn't need to give up her beliefs to keep her friends happy, and that's what Xander was: Buffy's friend. "Why don't you take a hike, Xander", she said in a commanding voice.

"You can't tell me what to do", Xander said with confidence, he wanted to add 'slut' to the end but stopped himself, he didn't trust Faith's mental health enough to push his luck.

"Fuck off, monkey boy. I may not pound some sense into your skull since I'm all reformed but I can tell your overly jealous girlfriend who got there first", Faith said with a hard glare.

Xander opened his mouth to speak but decided against it, suddenly he didn't know what to say. If Anya knew about his and Faith's past he would never hear the end of it, it was hard enough with Cordelia just two hours away and he had barely dodged the bullet in New York. He turned to Buffy for help, she had to put stop to what Faith was doing but she just looked at him with sad eyes. His gaze hardened, she had picked the psycho's side instead of her friend.

"Why don't you pop out the spawn so we can get rid of her", he said to Buffy before stomping back inside, slamming the door behind him.

Buffy jumped at the loud noise, her nerves were on end and tears were forming in her eyes. This was not how she wanted her visit to end.

"Well, I guess there's no point in asking you to keep the secret", Faith stated, then turned to look at the blond, noticing the tears in her eyes. "Hey, B, don't cry. Don't let that asshole get to you", she said.

Buffy wiped the forming tears away and shook her head. "That's not why I'm crying, it's the stupid hormones. And don't call him an asshole", she said sniffing.

"Well he is right now", Faith defended her point but shrugged it away as she didn't want to upset Buffy any further.

"I think I'm gonna sit down, my feet are killing me", Buffy said with a sigh, she wasn't ready to go back inside and face Xander, he needed time to cool off. She sat to the edge of the fountain, she wanted to remove her shoes but resisted the urge, maybe she'd have Angel rub her feet when they got home. A crooked smile rose to her lips as she remembered how one of their sessions had ended up the time he had gotten shot.

"What are you smiling about?" Faith asked with a smirk, looking at her suspiciously. "Wicked things I hope."

Buffy was thankful it was dark outside so the darker slayer couldn't see her blush. But thankfully her so called wicked thoughts were cooled down as she also remembered how the session had ended.

"You're outside and it's after dark", Angel's smooth voice came from behind them, sending shivers down her spine. She turned around with a crooked smile on her lips and slowly got up to her feet. He was standing in the shadows, looking very much like the creature of the night he was.

"I'm with a slayer, could I be in any safer company?" she questioned and crossed the distance between them.

"That's beside the point", he said like a father telling child she had been naughty.

She just gave him an innocent smile. "Hi", she whispered like they had just met. She pulled him into a kiss and he responded into it without hesitation. Automatically his hand drifted down her side to her stomach, covering it protectively.

Slowly he pulled back with a small crooked smile on his lips. "Hey", he greeted back.

They both were obvious to the world around them, especially to the brunette slayer that was wearing a wicked smirk. "And here I though B was all sexually repressed since getting the big and pointy stomach", she said, drawing the couples attention to herself.

Buffy blushed and sent a chastising glare at the brunette but Angel couldn't keep the smirk from forming to his lips. Faith laughed as she saw it. Buffy turned and gently slapped him to the stomach as she noticed what Faith was laughing at. Quickly Angel wiped the smirk off his face, he thought it was cute how she still got embarrassed by their sexual relationship but then a frown started to form on his face. It was probably his fault, the things he had said the first morning as Angelus had left her insecure of her abilities for a long time. They had never talked about it, he had never told her the things Angelus said were all lies, he had known they were the best way to get to her, to use her insecurities against her.

"You're starting to brood again. Is everything okay?" Buffy's voice pulled him out of his thoughts and he turned to look at her concerned face.

"Nothing's wrong. Just thinking", he assured her and pressed a soft kiss to her head. She looked at him skeptically but didn't say anything. "Where's your luggage?" he asked steering the conversation elsewhere.

"Inside. Lets get the bags so we can head home", she answered and the three headed inside.

xxx

Angel took the bags to the car and twice Giles reminded Buffy that she needed to give the files and the book to Wesley immediately as they arrived to LA. Xander was sulking but he did say goodbye to Buffy, ignoring Angel. The others were more emotional and after quick goodbyes they headed towards Los Angeles.

After passing the Sunnydale-sign, Buffy turned in her seat to face him. "Stop the car", she told him and he turned to look at him, concern showing in his voice.

"Are you feeling sick?" He pulled over, killed the engine and turned in his seat, giving her his full attention.

"Nope", she answered with a reassuring smile. "I haven't seen you in days and I wanted to do this."

She grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss. He smiled against her lips before deepening the kiss. She cupped his cheek as her other hand ran through his hair, settling to the back of his neck to play with the fine hair. He shifted in his seat to move closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. He let his lips trail away from her lips, shedding soft kisses down her face to her neck and tracing the scar with his tongue. She shuddered at the feeling, a small whimper escaping her lips.

After a while, he forced himself to pull back. He took long calming breathes while gazing into her heated eyes. "We better get going", he stated and turned his attention back to the car. He restarted it and they continued their trip back to LA. He couldn't wait to get home.

They arrived to the hotel couple hours later and he insisted carrying all the bags, only allowing her to keep the things Giles had sent to Wesley. "At least let me carry the backpack, you look like a pack mule", she complained but he just shook his head, not giving in. With a petulant sigh, she followed him in. Neither of them noticed the dark figure standing in the shadows on the other side of the road.

They were greeted by Wesley, who had sprinted out of the office the minute he heard them come through the door. Buffy couldn't help but smile at his expression, it was like a little boy waiting for souvenirs. "Here's the package Giles sent", Buffy said and handed the folder with the book to him.

"Marvelous. Thank you", he said with a smile and took the folder, hurrying back to the office. He couldn't wait to read the papers, time was not on their side and he was bursting with anxiety.

Buffy and Angel looked after him before heading up the stairs. "He and Giles have been acting majorly weird lately", she stated while walking.

"I know. Wesley has done a lot of researching lately, he has practically commandeered the office", he agreed and opened the bedroom door for her.

"Something's up. Giles was all evasive when it came to mentioning the baby", she stated and sat to the bed, sighing in relief as she removed her shoes.

Angel set down the bags and turned to Buffy. "I trust Wesley and Giles, he wouldn't do anything to hurt you."

Buffy nodded in agreement, she knew Giles would never hurt her, not intentionally anyway. "And I trust them too. But it's still weird. They're all watcher-y and buddy-buddy these days", she said and slowly laid down against the pillows on the end of the bed.

"But isn't it a good thing that they are getting along", he said. He had his own doubts about what was going on but he didn't want to worry her. But his mind was far away from the two watchers as he watched his mate lounge on the bed, the kiss in the car came rushing back to his mind. Slowly he crossed the distance between them, looking very much like a large predator. He sat to the edge of the bed without taking his eyes off hers.

"How are you feeling?" he asked with a low voice, his hand drifting down to her stomach and disappearing under her shirt.

"Good. Feeling good", she answered, his touch was causing shivers run through her body.

"I need to go patrolling", he stated but made no move to leave. His other hand made its way to her hair, he loved her long her, he could make a hobby out of running his fingers through it. She leaned into his touch, closing her eyes.

"Yeah, you should", she whispered. He leaned down and gently kissed her lips, making it brief because he knew he had to leave before he was too tempted to stay.

"I'm going", he said and got off the bed, but still was not moving.

"Hurry back. I'll keep the bed warm for ya", she said with a husky voice and a wicked smile.

He swallowed. "You can count on that, baby", he whispered so quietly she could barely hear it, and then he was gone. He hurried to downstairs and grabbed couple of stakes, it was going to be a quick sweep through the streets.

He was on his way to the door when the light in the office caught his eye, he made his way to the door and looked inside. Wesley was obvious to the world around him as he was reading the pages in front of him with a deep from on his face. Quietly Angel pulled back from the door and left the hotel, making a mental note to ask Wesley about the papers the next day, but right now he had more urgent things to take care of.

.

To be continued...

**

* * *

**

**A/N:** I came across some B/A haters so as an effect to that this chapter seemed to become very fluffy.


	21. The Inspection

**A/N:** Thank you very much for all the reviews, they are much appreciated. Again, I apologize for the late update, nearly two weeks, ugh. The whole time I knew where I was getting at but couldn't get the words on paper. Aggravating! But thank you for being patient with me.

**A/N2:** I've never been a Faith/Spike shipper and I was afraid to use the pairing in this because to me too it seemed like Buffy wannabe thing to do, but since the "relationship" is purely sexual and somewhat friendship I thought I could get away with it and as Vixangel said, he has the stamina to keep up with her. And about Xander, I used to really like him, not nearly as much as Angel (or several other main characters), I've always had a thing for the underdog but the things he did made the liking cool down. I think he is a great friend till Buffy does something he doesn't approve of, then he attacks and says things that really cut deep. I was just watching Revelations from season three and he really was an asshole in that episode and Dead man's party is my least favorite episode of the season since everyone was attacking Buffy, Xander as their leader. I wish for once she would have stood up for herself. *sigh* But I did have a confrontation between the scoobies and Buffy in the fic that this is a sequel to, In full body and mind.

* * *

Chapter 21: The Inspection

Three men walked into the Hyperion lobby. Cordelia raised her gaze up from the papers she had been working on, ready to blast a bright smile on her face and suck up potential clients. But then she saw a familiar face and the starting smile turned into a glare, boring into the men. "You again", she said, her voice hostile.

"We are here to meet Mr. Angel", Gavin Park informed.

Cordelia didn't let her eyes off of him as she walked around the receptionist desk. "Why don't you and your little friends slither back to where you crawled out of", she said but the men didn't seem affected.

"We are here to meet Mr. Angel", Gavin repeated.

"And why would you want to meet me?" Angel asked walking into the room with Buffy following. He would have liked her to stay behind but it was futile to say no to her, especially now that she was pregnant she was even more stubborn than usual.

"Hello, I am Gavin Park, and these gentlemen here are officer Delaney and Mr. Hayes. You are miss Summers, I assume", Gavin introduced and offered his hand to Buffy. She just looked at it like it was an foreign object and turned her eyes to Angel.

"The new evil lawyer guy?" she questioned, nodding towards the lawyer.

"Yeah", Angel answered. "What do you want?" he asked turning his eyes to Gavin, all warmth was gone from his gaze.

Gavin dug a stack of papers from his briefcase and gave them to Angel. "Mr. Hayes is an building inspector and knowing your reluctance to cooperate officer Delaney is here to supervise that he are allowed to do the inspection on this building. If you interfere, he will have to arrest you", he explained the situation.

Buffy's eyes turned into slits and she openly glared at the man. "He can try", she said menacingly to the lawyer.

"Is that a threat, miss Summers?" he questioned with an raised eyebrow keeping the cool surface.

"It's a statement", she answered and took a step closer to him. The fact that she was eight months pregnant didn't make her any less intimidating, actually it made her look like a tigress who was protecting her young. Angel could hear the men's heartbeats fastening and he had to suppress a proud smirk from rising to his lips and yelling 'That's my girl'. But instead, he laid a gentle hand to the small of her back, instantly calming her down. She turned to look at him and to outsiders it appeared like they were having a conversation without words. Finally she sighed and shrugged her shoulders like giving up the subject.

"I'm starved", she stated, then turned her gaze back to the lawyer, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. "But I don't want any of them being unsupervised anywhere in this building", she said, her voice cold.

"Believe me, love, they're not going to be", Angel said with a soft voice that was like a tender caress to her strung nerves. He turned his attention to Cordelia. "Get Wesley and Gunn, they're in the basement. We'll keep company to these gentlemen", he said and despite having a problem with orders, Cordelia did what she was told without any protest.

Gunn and Wesley were training in the basement with swords. Gunn had been pestering Angel all morning, trying to get a permission to use his broadsword but hadn't got it, only okay to use the rapiers Wesley had been swindled into buying, that man really didn't have any sale resistance. Of course Gunn hadn't been happy with the choice of weapon because he felt the rapiers were less manly than the broadswords but still he wasn't going to pass the opportunity. Buffy had stayed clear out of the basement, she didn't like seeing those particular weapons if she didn't have to. Because of the imbalanced hormones, she was getting teary just from seeing a crossbow, it didn't take much to bring up bad memories.

"Do you think they're still alive down there?" Buffy asked with a quirked eyebrow, her voice was low enough that the outsiders couldn't hear her.

"They're still alive", Angel answered, his lips turning into a smirk. He had heard the whole session between the men and it was more talking than fighting, mostly Gunn complaining about the rapiers and Wesley's inability to resist salesmen.

Cordelia and the two men came back up from the basement. "All I'm sayin' is that those are for sissy frenchies", Gunn said, not paying attention to the fact that there were strange people in the room.

"Those particular rapiers are Italian and they are not for sissies. They are much more graceful than broadswords", Wesley stated with a hard face.

"That's what I said, they're for sissies", Gunn answered, looking at Wesley like he didn't get the point.

Wesley sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, it appeared to be a fruitless debate. He turned to Cordelia for help. "Cordelia", he started but she raised her hands up to stop him from going further.

"I don't care what kind of a sword you play with, they're all the same to me", she stated and rolled her eyes. Men!

Gunn and Wesley turned their attention to the small group of people that were watching their debate, both Buffy and Angel were looking amused by the conversation. Gunn's eyes landed on the guy in a suit. "The new player?" he asked, nodding towards Gavin.

"Yeah. And he brought friends with him, they want to inspect the building", Buffy answered.

"Why?" Gunn asked bluntly, folding his arms on his chest.

"Wolfram & Hart is interested in buying this building", Gavin answered.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Oh come on! Do you really think you can bring Angel to your side by taking away our home? Wolfram & Hart really is loosing its touch. I can't wait to see what kind of a replacement Lilah will have some day."

"They are going to do the inspection but I don't want them to be alone anywhere, not even for a second", Angel said to Gunn and Wesley who nodded in understanding.

"Okay, get on with it. I'm starting to get hungry", Buffy said with a impatient pout.

"Angel, why don't you take Buffy for lunch, Gunn and I can supervise these people", Wesley said. He knew how bad cook Buffy was and that was why he thought Angel's cooking would be best for the baby.

"Are you sure?" Angel asked.

"Of course, he's sure. Get your woman something to eat, she's eating for two, you know", Gunn said, shaking his head. He understood that Angel didn't trust any people Wolfram & Hart sent, he didn't either, but it wasn't like he or Wesley couldn't handle it.

"Okay, call out if you need anything", he said and got a impatient look from Gunn. He and Buffy went back to their room. With a sigh of relief Buffy sat down to the couch and took a comfortable position as Angel went to the small kitchenette and started preparing the lunch.

In the living room, Buffy reached for the phone on the table and dialed a number. It had been either shifting from her seat and get the magazine or call Willow, she opted to the one where she didn't have to move from the comfy position she had managed to get. "Hey Will, it's me", she said as the redhead answered the phone.

"Buffy!" Willow yelped in surprise, happy to hear her friends voice, then she frowned. "Is everything alright?"

"Fine. Why? I just thought I'd call to kill time while waiting for the hubby to feed me", Buffy explained. Angel turned around to look at her as he had heard what she said. She just offered him a innocent look and a smile. She turned her gaze away and frowned. "Umm... Xander. Is he still mad at me?" she asked uncertain if she wanted to hear the answer.

"I don't think so, he hasn't said anything. He's just really snarky at Faith but that's nothing out of the ordinary, they're always on each others throats..." There was a small pause. "Umm... Not literally. In each others throats. I'm saying that in a figurative way. But he won't tell me why he's in a pissy... I mean in a bad mood", Willow answered and Buffy could almost see her blushing at her use of words. Of course Buffy knew why Xander had been mad at her and why he was more aggressive towards Faith, but she wasn't going to tell it to Willow.

"College is having a bad influence on you, Wills", she smirked, steering the conversation away from bad topics.

"Yeah, I'm the regular poster child of bad things that happen to you by going to college", Willow answered. "So how's the baby? And how are you doing?" she asked, sure they had been talking on the phone only two days earlier but a lot could happen during the time.

Buffy's hand drifted down to her stomach and a small smile rose to her lips. "We're fine. I think I cracked a rib when he", she glanced towards the kitchen, "or she kicked me but otherwise we're peachy. I have a doctor's appointment in an hour", she answered and quickly added: "Just the monthly check up." She knew if she didn't act quick, Willow would get worried.

"Oh, that's good. That it's a monthly thing and not a bad visit", Willow said with a inaudible sigh of relief. "Are you going to drive there?" she asked, the frown returning to her face.

"No, Cordy's taking me. Because someone doesn't let me drive anymore", Buffy answered, giving Angel a pointed look. "Besides, I doubt I even fit behind the wheel anymore", she added with a frown and tried to pull down the hem of her shirt that showed her bare belly.

"Cordelia's driving you?" Willow asked, her frown deepening. She felt a surge of jealousy run through her, it should have been her taking Buffy to the hospital, not their high school nemesis. She never thought she would ever be jealous of Cordelia and she really didn't like the feeling.

"Yeah. You know how much I hate hospitals, it's good to have company", Buffy answered to the phone and gave Angel a bright smile as he walked into the room and set the plate on the coffee table. She covered the phone and looked at him like he was her savior. "I love you", she said with a cheeky smile, then turned her attention back to the phone.

"Sorry, Willow, but I have to go. Angel made a delicious lunch and there is nothing that stands in the way of a pregnant slayer and her meal", she said and Willow laughed.

"Okay. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay. Bye", Buffy said and hung up, turning her full attention to the plate in front of her. She was almost certain she wouldn't have better food even from a four star restaurant.

"I think I just fell in love with you a little more", she stated after the first bite and Angel laughed.

xxx

Buffy was laying on the exam table with Cordelia on a stool next to her as doctor Lang prepaired the ultrasound ready. "So how are you feeling?" she asked, picking up the bottle of jelly from the cabinet.

"Huge", Buffy answered with a frown. Dr Lang gave her a understanding smile.

"That's quite normal. But how have you been feeling? Any aches, bleeding, something from that category?"

Buffy shook her head. "Nope nothing. As you know, I didn't even have morning sickness. The baby likes to use me as a punching bag, my back is killing me, my feet hurt, I burst into tears from the strangest things and have the weirdest cravings but other than that, nothing", she answered.

Again Dr Lang smiled. "Well, all that is normal as well." She spread the cold jelly to Buffy's bare stomach and moved the wand around while looking at the small screen.

When the doctor was quiet for a long while, Buffy started to get anxious. "Is something wrong?" she asked with a frown and looked at the screen with sharp eyes.

"Nothing is wrong. The baby appears to be healthy and very well developed. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were farther along than you are", Dr Lang said with a soft voice, easing her fears. Buffy let out a sigh of relief.

Cordelia strained to see the screen, looking at the ultrasound video with scrutiny, then she turned her eyes to the doctor. "The baby is a girl, right?" she questioned with demanding eyes.

"I don't want to know!" Buffy cried out before the doctor could even think of answering.

"But I want to. I need to be sure so I can buy that princess dress for her", Cordelia said to Buffy, then turned back to Dr Lang, speaking firmly: "It is a girl, isn't it?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Cordy, you'll just have to wait with the rest of us. Come on, it's just one month", Buffy said and petted the back of her hand in consolation. Dr Lang smiled in amusement and printed the photo of the ultrasound. She waved it in her hand, drying the ink, then handed it to Buffy.

"Would you like one?" she asked Cordelia who seemed to be pouting from being denied the knowledge of the baby's sex.

"Sure why not", she shrugged her shoulders, maybe she could frame it and give it to Buffy for birthday, she was sure Angel would wear out the one Buffy got. Dr Lang printed another picture and continued the examination.

xxx

Angel glanced at the clock on the wall, it had been nearly an hour since Buffy and Cordelia had left to the hospital but he had heard Cordelia talking about taking Buffy to a baby store so he figured he'd have plenty of time to finish what he had planned. Gunn noticed the solemn look on his boss' face and he made his way to the vampire. "Missing her already?" he asked with a smirk.

Angel turned to look at him, he had gotten used to being teased about Buffy and it was no secret he worried about her every minute she was alone somewhere, she was carrying his child and being eight months pregnant didn't make it easy to defend herself if something happened. "It's not that", he said but Gunn just smirked knowingly.

"What ever you say", he said chuckling.

"Angel!" Wesley called out from the door and crossed the distance between them, he was carrying a see-through plastic bag that showed several books in it. "I have the books you requested", he stated and handed the bag to Angel.

Gunn tilted his head to the side and read few of the titles, they were children's books. "Tired of reading those old, thick, musty books with big words?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"They're more like research", Angel answered, checking the content of the bag.

"What for? If we get attacked by a wicked stepmother?" Gunn asked not seeing the point.

"Gunn, you forget Angel is about to become a father in one month", Wesley reminded.

"Well, I need to get started", Angel said and headed upstairs, going to his room. He changed his clothes into a pair old gray sweat pants and white wifebeater before leaving the room, going to the one next to it. The hotel room was smaller than his and Buffy's. He had painted it, done some remodeling and safe proofing while Buffy had been in Sunnydale. She didn't venture into the empty rooms so he knew the surprise was safe.

He set one of the story books to the table, leaning against the wall with one of the pages open. Then he grabbed a thin paintbrush and opened several paint jars, dipping the brush in the black paint. He looked at the picture on the book and started drawing lines to the wall. In no time had made a perfect copy of the picture in the book. He turned the page, careful not to smudge the book with paint and started painting another character, this time he recognized it. He started doing the lines for the seven dwarfs, he had actually seen the movie when it first came to the theaters. He had come inside to get out of the rain and the theater seemed like good place for him, dry and dark.

For over two hours he painted pictures to the walls till he heard the front door open and Cordelia's voice speaking. Quickly he closed the paint jars and put the brush into a cup of water before hurrying out of the room to change. The room wasn't finished so he didn't want to show it to Buffy just yet. He nearly ripped the shirt as he pulled it over his head and threw it into the hamper. His sweats were clean so he opted into pulling on a clean wifebeater and putting a dress shirt over it. He buttoned it up while making his way downstairs.

"The stroller was pink. With ruffles", Buffy said shaking her head and walking quickly away from Cordelia, at least as quickly as she could eight months pregnant.

"It was cute!" Cordelia insisted, following the pregnant woman that was trying to escape.

"The baby might not even be a girl", Buffy sighed. Sure the stroller Cordelia wanted hadn't been that bad, it wasn't hot pink or something shocking but it still screamed 'girl', with ruffles.

"It is a girl", Cordelia stated and crossed her arms over her chest, her face was stern, she had made up her mind.

"You're back", Angel stated, interrupting the debate. Buffy turned with a bright smile on her face, happy of the interruption and he crossed the distance, pulling her into a kiss. Cordelia rolled her eyes.

Angel pulled back, he would finish the kiss once they got to their room. Just thinking about it brought a small crooked smile to his lips. "So, what did the doctor say?" he asked, shaking himself out of his thoughts.

"Everything is fine, everything has developed like its supposed to, he or she is perfectly healthy", Buffy answered with a smile, then dug the ultrasound photo from her bag and handed it to him. He was immediately mesmerized, staring at it with awe and he felt a bang of remorse for not being there with her. He traced the blurry features with his finger. It was his child. Cordelia took it as her cue to leave, the moment seemed a little bit too intimate that she felt they needed some privacy.

Angel raised his eyes from the picture and looked at the mother of his child. She was watching him with teary eyes, just the look on his face as he looked at the picture of their child, made her feel emotional. "Don't cry", he whispered and wiped the tears away with his thumb before they could fall.

"They're not bad tears", she assured and gave him a teary smile before reaching up and brushing her hand through his hair, settling to the base of his neck. She noticed the smudge of blue paint on his hair and with a second look, she also noted he also had some yellow paint on his neck and next to his eye. "What have you been doing?" she asked amusement clear in her voice. She smoothed her thumb over the yellow smudge till it was off his pale skin.

Angel frowned, he couldn't really check if his face was covered with paint since he didn't have any reflection.

"Fine, you don't have to tell me, you can go back to being a cryptic guy", she said with a shrug. She shifted on her feet, a movement that didn't go unnoticed by Angel.

"You're tired. You should go rest. Wanna take a relaxing bath?" he asked and started guiding her to the stairs.

"Maybe you could join me, wash all that paint off you hair", she said with a soft voice, giving him a mischievous look.

"Maybe I could", he stated with a smirk.

.

To be continued...


	22. Old friends

**A/N:** Thank you to all readers and special thank you to those who left reviews, they are really much appreciated.

* * *

**Chapter 22: Old friends**

Buffy walked into the office and immediately everyone in the room raised their eyes to her. They were researching a demon from Cordelia's vision since it was the only information that had been sent to her, just a flash of the demon with no victim.

Cordelia sighed and closed the book she had been reading. "Could this be any more boring?" she questioned and took another book from the pile. Buffy looked at the brunette with a amused smile, glad that she had a good excuse not to be on the research party. She directed her eyes back to Angel.

"I'm going to the hospital now", she stated.

Angle put down his book and got up from behind the desk. "Cordelia will drive you", he said.

Cordelia turned her gaze to Angel with a annoyed look on her face. "What am I now, her chauffeur?" she questioned.

Buffy looked at Angel but his gaze told her there was no way he would give in. She gave a defeated sigh. "Think of it as an excuse not to do more research", she said to Cordelia who seemed to brighten at the idea.

"Works for me", she stated and threw the book to the table, breezing past Buffy. "Come on now, you're gonna be late", she called out as she grabbed her purse and headed to the door.

Buffy chuckled. "I think I should follow her or she'll leave without me", she said with a smile and pressed a quick kiss to Angel's lips. "I'm not sure how long the tests will take but I'll see you later", she added while walking backwards to the door.

"Yes, see you later", he answered, his face shifting into a frown, again he had to watch her go, he wanted to be there with her. Why did they have to live in sunny California? With a sigh he returned to the research, maybe if they found the demon soon enough he could finish painting the baby's room.

xxx

After a bunch of tests and endless conversation about home birth, Buffy was walking down the hall towards the cafeteria where Cordelia was waiting for her, she had met a fellow actress and was catching up with her while Buffy was in tests. Buffy turned around the corner and collided into another person. She took a moment to gather her balance before she lifted her gaze, her eyes widening.

"Riley", she whispered in surprise, cold chills running down her spine.

"Buffy!" his voice displayed the same surprise, then his eyes shifted down to her round stomach. "Buffy?" he said in shock to find her pregnant, he reached out to her but she took a wary step back. He pulled his hand back, looking like a kicked puppy.

"Riley, what are you doing here?" she questioned suspiciously, she hadn't expected to run into him any time soon, actually she hadn't even thought about him. She looked at him with sharp eyes, noting the crookedness of his nose, Angel had shattered it in blind rage and apparently it couldn't be completely fixed. She was keeping herself on alert, aware of her surrounding and not even one intake of breath from him went unnoticed. There were people around so she couldn't really pummel him into the ground and she hoped it would prevent him from doing anything stupid.

"My therapist is in this building", Riley explained his presence.

"Oh? That's good", she said nodding, not knowing what to say to him and not letting her guard down.

"I'm better now. I'm seeing a therapist three times a week and I'm on medication. I realize I did some bad things when I... when I lost my mind. And I'm truly sorry", he said and he really did look repentant.

"That's good for you", she said awkwardly, wanting to get away from him.

His eyes went back to her stomach. "You're pregnant", he stated the obvious.

"Yeah, eight months", she answered, her hands going to the bump, spreading over it protectively.

"How?" he asked looking confused.

"Artificial insemination, Angel's still a vamp", she lied, she wasn't going to tell him she was having a miracle baby, all she knew he was still crazy and working for the Initiative.

"You were pregnant when I..." he didn't seem to be able to finish the sentence. "Buffy, I'm terribly sorry. I put the baby's life in danger with my actions and I truly am sorry. I would never forgive myself if something had happened to you or your child. Is it healthy?"

She looked at him with scrutiny, he did seem genuinely sorry and she wanted to believe he was getting better but she couldn't trust him again. "Yes, she or he is perfectly healthy", she finally answered.

"I know you can probably never trust me again but I want to try and make it up to you. I realize how bad it all got. I'm not the same person anymore", he swore and she really wanted to believe him. Even though she never loved him and she didn't have feelings for him, he still was a person she had deeply cared about.

"I have to go", she whispered and started backing away.

"Buffy, please. Can I meet you some day? In public, maybe lunch or something", he asked hopefully.

"I don't know", she sighed.

"Please, consider it."

"Fine, I'll think about it", she said and walked away, feeling like she could finally breathe more easily as she got away from him. She went to th cafeteria where Cordelia was still talking animatedly to her friend. As she stopped by the table, Cordelia stopped talking and turned to look at her.

"Cordy, could we go home, please", Buffy asked.

"Yeah, sure", she answered and turned back to her friend while getting up from the table. "I'll call you later", she said and the woman nodded. After few quick words, Buffy and Cordelia left the hospital.

During the drive back to the hotel, Cordelia noticed that something wasn't right, Buffy was too quiet and started to remind her of Angel with the brooding expression on her face. As they arrived to the hotel, Buffy had gone inside before she could pressure her into talking. She was surprisingly quick for a pregnant woman.

"Where did she go?" Cordelia asked Wesley who seemed to be the only other person in the building.

Wesley pointed towards the stairs. "She said she will take a shower", he answered.

"For someone who has a stomach size of a yoga ball, she's surprisingly quick with her feet. Where's the others?" Cordelia walked around the desk and leaned against the surface, placing her chin on the palms of her hands. From the corner of her eyes, she looked at the page of the book Wesley had been reading.

"We found the demon from your vision. It's rather interesting species, they have a..." Wesley stopped as he noticed the bored expression on Cordelia's face. "Well, they went to hunt the demons. The specie lives in the woods, the darker the better so there is no danger of Angel being harmed by the sunlight. And knowing your next question, I am here because he told me to stay waiting for you two to arrive", he answered the original question.

"And it wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that you have no sense of direction?" Cordelia questioned with a quirky smile and a raised eyebrow.

"Well, umm... that might have had something to do with it but mostly because Angel himself couldn't stay and wait for you."

"Meaning Buffy", Cordelia stated with a flippant tone before grabbing the book and pulling it in front of her.

"What is this?" she asked and cast him a annoyed look as he pulled it back. As she grabbed it, a paper stayed in her fingers and quickly she unfolded it. She didn't have time to read more than few words before he yanked it out of her hands. "Hey!" she cried out, offended by his manners.

"I apologize, Cordelia but it is not nice to go through other peoples belongings without permission", Wesley said and tucked the paper into his pocket.

"The mother will what? And what mother? Who's mother? What's going on, Wesley?" she shot the questions in one string and waved her finger in front of him threateningly.

"Cordelia", Wesley sighed but she gave him a hard look.

"Start singing, four eyes. Is this what you've been working on lately? Being all cryptic and locked up in the office till wee hours?" she demanded.

"Cordelia, it is not finished yet, I'm not even certain what it is yet so leave it alone, will you", Wesley said, getting frustrated. He yanked off his glasses and started cleaning them furiously. His face were furrowed into a deep frown and he looked ready to loose his temper. Cordelia looked at him wearily, this wasn't like Wesley.

"Fine. Keep your secrets", she huffed and walked around the desk away from him. "I'm gonna go check on the pregnant lady", she stated and left.

Wesley let out a frustrated sigh and put his glasses back on, looking as she walked up the stairs. He felt bad about snapping at her but he had been high strung because of the prophecy. He gathered the books and papers from the receptionist desk and went to the office. He'd apologize later.

Cordelia couldn't understand what was going on with Wesley, ever since Buffy's visit to Sunnydale he had been stressed but even more so lately. She suspected it had something to do with the papers and books Giles sent him. With a sigh she knocked on the door, deciding to think about Wesley later. There was no answer to the knock but since she knew for certain Angel wasn't there, she had the courage to just walk in.

"Wesley is acting majorly weird and I want to know what happened in the hospital that caused you to do the Angel imitation", she said as she walked to the living room where Buffy was sitting, watching tv. But then she noticed Buffy's shoulders were shaking and as she got close enough, she could see she was crying.

"What's wrong?" Cordelia asked and sat next to her, running her hand up and down her arm, trying to calm down the blonde. Buffy turned her eyes to Cordelia and wiped her tears.

"It's nothing", she choked out, more tears pouring from her eyes.

"It's obviously something, your practically drowning us with the water", Cordelia said, giving her the expression she wasn't going to give up until the truth was out.

"Really, it's nothing. I just saw this dog food commercial with little puppies in it and the next thing I know, I'm crying my eyes out. But they were just so adorable and little and unaware of the cruelty of this world", Buffy explained through her tears and the brunette looked at her like she had finally lost it.

"Let me get this straight, you're crying over commercials about puppies now? Jeez, I never want to get pregnant", Cordelia sighed, causing Buffy cry even louder. "Definitely never", she muttered to herself and tried to comfort the crying blonde.

xxx

It was already late when Angel and Gunn returned to the Hyperion. The fight had been brutal and Angel was still worked up from the fight. He decided to leave cleaning the axe till the next day and climbed the stairs, making his way to his room. As he had closed the door, he shed off the sweaty, torn shirt and headed to the bedroom. He tried to move quietly in case she was sleeping.

"Hey. How was the day at the office?" she asked setting down the book she had been reading while waiting for him. Angel gave her one of his crooked smiles.

"I thought you'd be sleeping", he stated and made his way to the bed, sitting to the edge.

"You know we can't sleep well without you. And you look pretty beat up", she said raising up to sit. She ran her hand over his shoulders, noting all the scratch marks on his clothes, there seemed to be very little traces of blood but that didn't assure her.

"Bacchez demons are tough and they travel in groups", Angel stated and got up to his feet. He went to the dresser and grabbed a clean shirt. But he didn't have a chance to put it on as he heard Buffy saying, "I saw Riley today."

He turned around and looked at her, hoping he had heard wrong. "What?!"

"I said I saw Riley", she repeated.

"I heard you. You saw him where? What did he do?" he questioned with a hard voice, taking steps closer to her.

"Why are you acting like that? You're acting like I did something wrong. I ran into him at the hospital, he was there to see his psychiatrist", she said getting up from the bed and facing him with a scowl.

"I'm not blaming you. I just don't trust him. Did he try anything?" He sighed, this was going all wrong.

"No, he didn't try anything. He's getting better, he's seeing a shrink and popping pills", she said, she was getting angry at him. She didn't trust Riley but her feelings were too hurt to tell that to Angel.

Angel ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath, hoping it would calm him down. The thought of her facing Riley Finn while carrying his baby made his blood boil. And his face showed it too. "Why didn't you tell me this before?" he demanded, inwardly he cursed the harshness of his voice.

"When? You were out! How was I supposed to tell you? I'm not telepathic!" she yelled to him.

Angel took a step closer to her but she backed away, giving him a hard look. "Buffy", he sighed. He had had a long day and he didn't want to fight, especially since she was pregnant.

"Don't you Buffy me, mister!" she said shaking her finger at him.

"Don't act like a child", he chastised.

"So now I'm a child!" she cried out, getting even more angry. Her unbalanced hormones weren't helping the situation either. She felt like yelling, crying, throwing things and just burrowing into the safety of his arms but she also felt hurt that he didn't seem to trust her.

He closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose between his fingers. He didn't seem to manage to say anything right. "Buffy. Baby. Let's not fight", he tried and quickly made his way across the room to her. But she wasn't letting it go.

"Okay, let's not fight. I'm sleeping in another room. Obviously I'm a child that can not be trusted", she bit out, grabbed a pillow from the bed and marched out of the room.

"Buffy!" Angel called out and hurried after her. She yanked open the door of the next room and froze. Angel stopped behind her, controlling himself from saying anything more. She took a step inside and looked around herself, the room smelled like just dried paint. The room seemed like it had been just renovated, there were Disney characters painted to the walls and only furniture were a child's bed and bookshelf filled with stuffed animals and books.

"Angel", she breathed out, looking around herself in awe, now she knew why he had been covered with paint just few days ago. "You did this?" she questioned turning around and giving him a small smile. It was a pointless question since she already knew the answer.

"Yeah", he answered, walking closer to her. He was alarmed when saw the tears in her eyes but soon calmed down, he had already learned what were the so called happy tears.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you. I've just been overly emotional the whole day", she said walking into his arms and laying her head to his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head.

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have been so harsh, I didn't mean it like it sounded", he said.

She sighed deeply. "It's just the way you said it, it was like you were blaming me for being at the hospital at the same time."

"Honey, that's not what I meant, I don't blame you for anything. I trust you with my life. It's him that I don't trust", he quickly answered, pulling back enough so he could see her face. When it came to her, he couldn't think straight, if it was anybody else he could control his emotions and what he was saying but not with her.

"I just overreacted, these hormones make me wacky", she shrugged it off, she had calmed down and wanted to forget the little fight ever happened. She looked at the room again. "It's beautiful", she stated in a whisper.

"I was afraid I might not get it ready before the baby is born", he confessed. He smoothed her hair back and stared into her eyes, it was like their fight hadn't even happened but he guessed it was part of living with a pregnant woman.

"Let's go to bed", he suggested and got no objections from her. He pulled her with him to the door, she was still clutching the pillow.

"Don't get all mad. But he wants to make up for the things he did", she said with a soft voice, unsure if she wanted to continue the conversation. Angel gritted his teeth, preventing himself from saying something too harshly. "He asked to have lunch with me", she added carefully.

Angel closed his eyes, holding on to his control. "I don't want you seeing him alone", he said slowly, he wanted to say he didn't allow her to see Riley Finn ever again but he didn't want another fight, he knew how much she hated it when other people told her what to do.

"I didn't say I was going to see him. I don't trust him either, even if he's better, I don't think I could ever trust him again", she stated challenging him with her eyes.

"Okay. Let's talk about this tomorrow, we're both tired and you should be asleep already", he said and they walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind them.

"Sleep sounds good", she answered with a small smile, then turned to him more serious. "But I think you should shower before getting into bed", she added with wrinkled nose.

.

To be continued...


	23. The Performance

**A/N:** I know, I keep repeating myself but it doesn't make it any less true, once again I thank you for the reviews because they encourage me to keep going. I had a little lapse of concentration because of the hockey games but I didn't want to keep you guys waiting so I didn't let myself trail off and here it is.

* * *

Chapter 23: The Performance

Buffy breezed into the office where Wesley and Gunn were sitting. Both men turned to look at the woman, bracing themselves for either wrath of the slayer or confessions of love, it could go either way. "Downstairs, now", she said with a giddy smile and left the same way as she had come in.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to those mood swings", Gunn stated shaking his head as he got up to his feet. Just the very same morning Buffy had let him hear it because he had left a knife to the edge of the kitchen table. He had tried to defend himself by saying the baby wouldn't even be crawling in months and who could hurt anyone with a wooden butter knife. She had stated that once she decapitated a quarterback vamp with a nail file. Five minutes later she was acting like the little tiff hadn't happened.

"Well, I doubt you will, considering she will be giving birth in less than four weeks. Unless she carries past due date", Wesley said and both men stopped, looking at each other with alarm. "But... but that probably won't happen, Angel said the baby is very well developed", he continued not sure who he was trying to reassure.

They walked out of the office, both wearing similar frowns. "I'm just surprised Angel hasn't been spending his nights on that couch for the last few months", Gunn stated and nodded towards the round sofa in the lobby.

"Angel wouldn't abandon his pregnant girlfriend like that", Wesley said offended in Angel's behalf by the suggestion.

"No, I meant that I'm surprised that she hasn't kicked him out to the couch", Gunn clarified.

"Well, Buffy does seem to have more tolerance for him than others", Wesley agreed.

"No kidding", Gunn sighed, he just hoped that Buffy turn back to normal after the baby was born. They made their way to the basement where Buffy, Angel and Cordelia were already waiting. Wesley raised an eyebrow in question, not knowing what was going on.

"So what's going on?" Gunn asked what Wesley was thinking. It didn't go unnoticed that Cordelia was wearing a sports bra and tight Nike shorts.

"We're training hand to hand combat but since I have this huge obstacle for another month, I can't do it. Plus I want to show off my star pupil", Buffy explained the situation.

"So we're here as an audience?" Wesley clarified but Buffy shook her head.

"Nope, one of you is the one she'll be beating up", she answered with a smirk.

"Can't Angel do it? He has a lot more experience than Gunn and I do, more like two hundred years more", Wesley complained.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but Cordy doesn't have two hundred years experience in kicking ass, it would be a little unfair to put her against him right away", she explained, taking a short pause before continuing, "I was thinking Wes could be a better match for her."

Gunn grinned smugly and Buffy sent a halfhearted glare at his way. "Because he has a lighter build. But I'm sure she could kick Gunn's ass too", she added looking at Gunn with challenge. She knew Cordy wouldn't win an experienced fighter like Gunn but she wasn't going to let him gloat.

"I have no proper clothes for this", Wesley tried but Buffy wouldn't give him a reason to pull back.

"You're fine like that", she stated with a wave of her hand, not even turning to look at him. Wesley still seemed a little hesitant. "Come on, it's not like she'll have any weapons. Other than her nails", Buffy smirked.

"Yeah, Wes. You scared of a girl?" Gunn joined in and got a glare from both Buffy and Cordelia.

"Hey!" the brunette protested. Gunn looked at the two women warily, he was on dangerous territory and he knew it. Angel was snickering in the background, amused by his friends distress. Gunn turned to look at the vampire with a scowl on his face.

Sometime later Cordelia and Wesley were trading punches, at first both of them were hesitant but soon Cordelia got more confident and almost got several hits. "Should we be worried for his safety?" Angel whispered to Buffy's ear, he was standing behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist.

"Maybe", she smirked and watched as Cordelia tried to kick Wesley's legs from under him.

"Do you think we should put some padding on him?" Angel suggested as Wesley avoided Cordelia's move but staggered backwards.

"That could be a good idea", Buffy said with an amused smile. "Look, look!" she said excitedly, pointing at the fighting couple as she noticed what Cordelia was about to do. Cordelia grabbed Wesley by the arm and threw him over her shoulder but as he hit the floor, he swept her legs from under her and she fell on top of him.

"Auw!" she complained and hit him on the shoulder before climbing up to her feet.

"I'm thinking this show is over", Buffy stated by the look on Cordelia's face. Wesley got up, rubbing his shoulder. Buffy glanced at him with a crooked smile. "We're starting training with weapon's after the baby is born", she said and he looked somewhat mollified.

"You can count me out of that rehearsal", he said, still trying to sooth the hurt out of his shoulder.

Gunn laughed. "She kicked your skinny, white ass real good", he stated still chuckling to himself.

"And don't you forget it", Cordelia said, pointing her finger at him and turned around with her long ponytail swinging at the movement. She went up the stairs.

The others turned to Buffy. "Where is she going?" Angel voiced the question the others didn't ask.

"I'm thinking shower. She has a audition in three hours", Buffy answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Again?" Wesley questioned with a frown.

Gunn turned to look at him with a strange look. "What you mean again? It's been months since the last one", he said.

"What is she auditioning for?" Angel asked with a frown, he remembered very well what the last one had led to. He didn't want anyone taking advantage of her, she was like a sister to him. One that he didn't kill. His frown deepened at the thought.

"Sun-lotion or something, not sure. It had something to do with the outdoors", Buffy answered. She took a deep breath and rubbed her lower back, looking around the basement with a frown. "Can you guys clean up here? The baby is announcing it's lunch time", she asked turning to Wesley and Gunn.

"I think we can manage", Wesley answered and Gunn didn't contradict him. Angel shook himself out of his glum thoughts and led her up the stairs. His thoughts drifted to the meeting she would have in few hours and again his face formed into a deep frown.

xxx

Buffy and Gunn walked into a busy diner and she looked around herself, taking in the surroundings. There were two entrances, it had plenty of customers and two of those were police officers, sitting by the counter. Her eyes landed on Riley and she took a deep calming breath.

"You don't have to do this, you know", Gunn said from behind her, his fingers wrapping around her hand, letting her know he was there.

"I know. But I need to", she answered quietly and headed towards her former boyfriend.

As soon as Riley noticed the two people nearing, he jumped to his feet. He noticed Buffy wasn't alone and he didn't like it. "Buffy", he whispered her name, receiving a greeting in a form of nod, then his eyes turned to Gunn. "Who's this?" he questioned, of course he knew who the man was, when he had been stalking her, he had done a background check on all of the people in the hotel.

"This is a friend. Gunn, Riley. Riley, Gunn", she introduced, waving her hand between the two men. Gunn didn't say anything, he just looked at the man in front of him with hard eyes. The crazy bastard had hurt his friend and he wasn't going to let that happen again, he didn't trust the man.

"I want to talk to Buffy in private", Riley protested his presence but Gunn just folded his arms in front of him and gave him a hard look.

"Though", he said, not giving in a inch, there was no way he would leave that crazy ass alone with Buffy, no matter how in public they were. Angel had made him swear he would look after Buffy and he had no doubt he would meet the infamous Angelus if he failed. Also he and Buffy had agreed he would be close to her during the meeting, apparently she didn't trust Captain Cardboard either.

Buffy turned to look at her friend, giving him a smile of appreciation and a small chastising look before nodding towards the next booth. They sat to the table, Gunn into the next booth facing Riley so he could see his every move.

Not knowing how to start, Riley called the waiter to the table. "Do you want coffee or something?" he asked her but she shook her head before turning to the waiter and ordering a green salad. Once he was gone, the table was again surrounded by a awkward silence.

"Come on, Riley, you didn't invite me here to actually eat", she sighed, she wanted the meeting to be over as soon as possible. She was feeling very uncomfortable in his presence and the baby didn't seem to like it either. Riley shifted in his seat and ran his fingers through his hair.

"How are you feeling? You and the baby?" he asked, the simple question sounding awkward.

"We're both fine", she answered, not giving more details. Again Riley ran his hand through his hair.

"This is hard. I can't ask your forgiveness because I know what I did to you is unforgivable but despite it being just words, again I want to tell you I'm sorry. I don't know what happened to me. It's all weird to just think about now. I love you", he said and Buffy's eyes widened. Seeing the look in her eyes, he quickly continued, "I didn't say that to make you feel uncomfortable but it's true. I do love you but I also know we were never meant to be together. You couldn't have loved me, really loved me because your heart belonged to another and now you're having a family with him. I'm not going to lie and say that I didn't wish you'd be having a family with me but I want you to be happy and I couldn't have made you happy. I was just filling the void he left."

She shifted uncomfortably, Riley's confession of love had made chills run down her spine but soon her nerves had been soothed as he continued. She wasn't going to tell him that he wasn't even filling the void, she had been feeling empty after Angel left and Riley had been just a way to make her friends and mother happy and try to keep the loneliness at bay. Still it hadn't worked, she felt more lonely than ever but at least her friends and mother were happy.

"Riley", she started but quieted as her salad and his coffee were brought to the table. As the waiter was gone, she avoided continuing by digging into the salad. Riley was looking at her expectantly and she let the fork drop to the plate with a clang, it was no use to beat around the bush, she needed to talk to him so she could go back to Angel and curl up into his safe arms.

"Riley, you hurt me. You really hurt me because you were someone I trusted, someone that was close to me", she said with a sigh, rubbing her forehead with her fingers. "But I don't hate you", she added with a quiet voice. There was a hopeful light in his eyes.

"But I can't trust you either", she stated lifting her gaze to his eyes. She forced herself not to wince from the pain she saw in his eyes but she wasn't going to lie to him no matter how much the truth hurt, she didn't trust him, she doubted she ever would.

"I understand", Riley said, swallowing hard. He shifted in his seat, stirred the coffee, looked around the diner before finally turning back to look at her. "I've been thinking about going to see my folks for a while", he stated, not meeting her eyes.

"I think that could be a good idea", she said, she believed it would do him good but she also had a selfish reason, if he was in Iowa they wouldn't have to see each other even by an accident.

Gunn cellphone started ringing and without turning, Buffy listened to what he was saying as she noted it was Angel calling. He hung up the phone and got up, walking to her. "We need to go, we've got a case", he said and Buffy could hear by the tone of his voice that it wasn't just any case. She turned to Riley who seemed to be watching them with sharp eyes.

"We need to go", she stated and got up to her feet, digging into her purse and placing bills next to the barely tasted salad.

"Alright, I'll see you sometime", he said. Buffy gave him a small smile, barely noticeable and left with Gunn.

"What did Angel say?" she asked as soon as they got outside.

"Cordy had a vision", he answered.

xxx

Buffy and Gunn rushed through the doors, finding the others in the lobby with Cordelia sitting on the settee, holding an icepack against her head. "What happened?" Buffy asked, hurrying to the brunette.

"All I can say is Auwii! There's a group of drunken Irishmen doing riverdance in my head", she complained but then sobered, looking up to Buffy with sadness in her eyes. "I don't think I'm gonna get the part cause right in the middle of it this vision hit me and I was screaming my head off, rolling on the floor. It was flashes of light, like electricity and then like something was pulling the blood through my skin. Major igh on that one but I also had a feeling that it was someone I know", Cordelia said and suddenly doubled over, clutching her head. Buffy took a hold of her shoulders to keep her from falling from the couch.

"Wesley, get her pills", Angel ordered but the former watcher shook his head.

"She already took one, they're too strong to take two in less than half an hour", he protested.

Cordelia sunk against the cushions, breathing hard. Then she opened her eyes and glared at the ceiling. "You couldn't just give me one vision!" she yelled accusingly, then turned to Buffy who was looking at her with undisguised concern.

"The vision is about Willow", she said to the slayer.

.

To be continued...


	24. Aftermath

**A/N: **Thank you to all readers and special thank you to those who left reviews, they really mean a lot to me. And sorry for the long gap between updates. Three weeks, ugh! Don't really know why that is cause I had this chapter worked out in my head and several pages on paper but it still took this long to get a new chapter done. But this is a long chapter so hope you can forgive me.

* * *

Chapter 24: Aftermath

Right after sundown the whole team headed to Sunnydale. Before leaving Buffy had called Willow, relieved when she had answered and everything seemed to be alright. She ordered the wicca to go to Giles' place and get the gang together. The whole way there Buffy told Angel to drive faster but he refused using her pregnancy as his excuse and wouldn't change his mind no matter what threats she gave him. Gunn drove past them with his truck before city limits but despite that the gang hadn't arrived yet when they finally got to Giles' place.

Buffy climbed out of the car and headed to Giles' apartment door without waiting for Angel. She gave the door a quick knock and just walked in, instantly calming down as she saw Willow sitting by the table with a pile of books.

"Hey, Buff", Xander greeted and lifted his gaze from the book he had been trying to read.

"Wow! How many are you having cause you're huge?" he questioned, he honestly didn't mean anything bad by it but as usual he couldn't control his mouth and the words were out before he could stop them. And then he saw the tears rising to her eyes.

"I know I'm huge! Do you think I need to be reminded of that!?" Buffy yelled through her tears.

"Xander! You made the hormonally imbalanced slayer cry", Anya said to her boyfriend with a disapproving tone. Faith looked at the scene with amusement when others thought it was wise not to interfere.

"It's a reaction, I can't help it!" Xander defended himself. He didn't understand why he always fell for the same trap but seeing Buffy growing with the child inside her never stopped surprising him.

Angel had walked in and he wrapped his arms around her and shushed her, pressing a soft kiss to her neck. "Xander didn't mean it like that. You're beautiful", he said to her and Xander couldn't believe it, dead boy... Angel had defended him.

"But he's right. I am huge and ugly", Buffy said with her lower lips sticking out and silent tears falling down her cheeks.

"I never said that!" Xander protested but Buffy didn't seem to listen.

"Buffy", Angel whispered her name, drawing her attention to him. "You are beautiful", he swore and leaned down, pressing a kiss next to her ear. "And you're desirable. And once we get home, I will show you just how much you being heavy with my child has an affect on me", he spoke quietly to her ear, sending shivers down her spine. She turned in his arms with hot eyes looking at him, tears forgotten.

"I will hold you to that promise", she answered huskily. Xander sat back down to his chair, wisely keeping quiet since his friend seemed to have forgotten him and his words.

Cordelia, Gunn and Wesley rushed through the door but the group came to a stop when they found Buffy and Angel in the doorway. "I see we missed the show. Bummer", Cordelia said with fake disappointment and walked in past the couple.

"What took you so long? You had a head start since Angel drove like an old granny", Buffy asked and Gunn seemed to look strangely sheepish.

"Gunn got lost. I never knew it was possible to get lost in Sunnydale but he did it. Can you believe it, the guy drives in LA without trouble and gets lost in a small town like this", Cordelia answered shaking her head.

"Come on, it could've happened to anyone. I can't believe how many alleyways this town has", Gunn defended himself.

"Did you have to take them all?" Cordelia questioned folding her arms in front of her.

"You told me to turn right and that's where it started", Gunn answered. Cordelia straightened her back, standing taller and took a step closer to him.

"I said from the next turn", she said.

"It was the next turn", Gunn answered. Cordelia opened her mouth to retaliate, pointing her finger to the man but she was interrupted by Angel.

"Okay kids, I think that's enough. You're here and that's what matters."

"You're gonna be a great father", Buffy said with a smirk and ran her hand up and down his arm.

"Umm... why don't we concentrate on the matter at hand. Cordelia, why don't you tell us about your vision", Giles steered the conversation to the reason why they all were there. He gestured to the sofa and chairs and the group moved to the living room. Giles and Wesley shared a look that went unnoticed from everyone else except for Cordelia who was just sitting to the couch. Anya glared at the brunette, crossing her arms in front of her with a huff.

"You're sitting too close to Xander. You're still not getting him back. He's mine", she said bluntly and Cordelia spun to look at the strange woman.

"And I still don't want him back", she answered rolling her eyes.

"You could be lying", Anya stated and glared at the brunette suspiciously.

"Take a pill", Cordelia muttered and got up from the couch, moving to sit on the armrest of Wesley's chair. Anya was still glaring at her.

"Cordelia, please, go ahead and tell us what you saw in your vision", Giles tried to steer the conversation back to the matter at hand.

"Visions. I had two. Thank you very much!" Cordelia corrected and yelled at the ceiling.

"Cordelia", Giles sighed and removed his glasses, starting to rub the bridge of his nose. Cordelia sighed also and started to explained what had happened.

xxx

After several hours of research, Angel closed the book and put it into the pile of possibly useful books. He turned to look at the clock before turning his eyes to Buffy who was struggling to stay awake.

"I think we should head to the mansion and continue tomorrow. Buffy should be in bed already", he said and glanced around the group. Cordelia was sleeping on a pile of books with a thin line of drool running down to Giles' precious book cover. Even Wesley was yawning and rubbing his eyes.

Buffy wanted to protest but she really was tired, as were everyone else. With a frustrated sigh she closed the book, since they didn't know what they were looking for, the research was even more tiring. "Yeah, I think we all should go to sleep for a while", she grudgingly agreed.

"Especially us who have class tomorrow", Willow added. Buffy spun around to look at her with a deep frown on her face.

"You're going to class tomorrow?" she questioned. Was that safe?

"I know what you're thinking but it's perfectly safe. I don't want to miss classes just because some bad guy is after me. Which is another question, why me? Anyway, I'm gonna be perfectly safe in class, there's a bunch of people around me", Willow said and gave her a tired, reassuring smile. But Buffy didn't feel reassured.

"Still. I'll be your body guard tomorrow and I'll pick you up in the morning. Spend the night at Tara's", Buffy instructed. Willow gave her a shy smile and looked at her girlfriend.

"I was going to", she stated and shared a smile with Tara.

"Okay, we'll take you to the dorm house", Buffy said to Willow and Tara, not leaving room for arguing and turned to look at the sleeping Cordelia. "And I think someone should wake Cordy", she added.

Everyone started to gather their things and move to the door. Wesley woke Cordelia and guided her to the door, supporting the tired seer against his side.

"I'll see you tomorrow", Buffy said from the door and Giles nodded.

"Goodnight all", he said to the group.

"Night, Giles", Willow said through her yawn and the group left, leaving only Giles, Xander and Anya standing into the apartment. Anya was staring at the door with a deep frown on her face, her arms crossed over her chest.

"She's taller than me. Why is she taller than me?" she demanded to know all but stomping her foot to the ground. Xander's ex was not allowed to be taller or prettier than her.

xxx

Buffy opened her eyes and found the bed empty next to her. Slowly she shifted off the bed and slipped her bare feet to the slippers since the stone floor tended to be cold. She grabbed the robe and pulled it on while walking to the kitchen. Gunn was sitting in the table with a steaming cup of coffee and Angel was making breakfast. Both turned to look at the door to see who had stepped in.

"Morning", she said through a yawn and headed to Angel. He handed her a cup of coffee, just the way she liked it and leaned into a kiss but she turned her head away. "Morning breath", she explained sheepishly.

"Don't care", he stated and brushed his lips against hers in a short, sweet kiss. His hands went down to her stomach, gently rubbing the bump.

"Could you two stop to this? It's too early in the morning", Gunn said from the table and tried to get himself awake by drinking more of the coffee in his hand. Buffy turned to look at the man with amused smile playing on her lips.

"Someone's cranky this morning", she stated and went to sit on the table.

"I had three hours of sleep last night", he stated and got up from the table to fill the empty cup in his hand.

"Who told you to get up this early?" Buffy smirked and Gunn gave her a dirty look.

"Because I'll be babysitting Red with you. Why do the classes have to start so damn early", he griped. Buffy turned her gaze to Angel, lifting an questioning eyebrow.

"I asked Gunn to company you. You know you can't do it alone", Angel explained and Buffy sighed, he did have a point. Gunn turned to look at the vampire, what he remembered of the talk they had, it didn't sound like asking.

Cordelia breezed through the door and headed straight to the coffee pot. Everyone looked at her in surprise, none of them had expected to see her so early in the morning. "How can anyone sleep in here?! It's cold, drafty and my room smells like a old wine cellar", she complained, then looked around herself while taking a sip from her coffee. "Where's Wesley?" she asked.

"He's meeting Giles", Angel answered and set the food to the table.

"Again? What's with him and Giles these days? They used to be like little kids competing which is better and now they're all buddy-buddy", Buffy wondered with a frown.

"Yeah, I've noticed that too. I say we'll tie Wesley into a chair and torture him till he confesses what's going on cause I don't like secrets", Cordelia joined in. Everyone turned to look at her funny.

"I don't mean torture like putting bamboo sticks under his fingernails-torture. I mean like dangling some old book over a fire", she explained innocently.

"I don't think we need to go that far. They'll tell us in time if there's anything to tell", Angel said and set a plate in front of Buffy.

xxx

"The prophecy must be wrong", Wesley said vehemently.

"I certainly wish it were", Giles answered with a sigh and took off his glasses, tiredly rubbing the bridge of his nose. The living room table was filled with papers and books, on top of them there was a rough translation of the prophecy Giles had sent to Wesley some weeks earlier.

"We must be absolutely certain, with no doubt what the prophecy says. The language is very difficult and considering it is practically extinct, we can't just confirm every word from a dictionary", Wesley continued and Giles turned to look at him with irritation.

"Don't you think I know that, man. I care about Buffy like she was my own daughter and I don't want that prophecy to come through any more than you do", he said with a stinging edge in his voice. Wesley looked at him sheepishly and with a sigh he sat down to a chair. He rubbed his forehead with the tips of his fingers before grabbing the paper from the table, once again reading it through.

"It could be wrong. We can not be certain the prophecy is about Buffy", he said and they both knew they were grasping to straws.

"All the signs indicate to her", Giles stated.

"No, it can not be. There are too many vague insinuations and it talks about things that are not true. For example, it says something about a form of a sister and if I am not mistaken, Mrs Summers is not pregnant nor does she have more than one child. Buffy has defied prophecies before, why would this time be any different", Wesley said, he wasn't sure if he was trying to convince Giles or himself. Despite her imbalanced hormones during the pregnancy, he had grown quite fond of the slayer and become to consider her as his friend, a sister that he never had.

"Because of the source. These prophecies are not made by quacks", Giles said almost loosing his temper, he wanted to find excuses like Wesley did but he knew it wouldn't do any good. They needed to know for sure what the prophecy said and how to prevent it. He sighed, hanging his head low. "I only wish we could find someone who knows the language better than we do", he stated tiredly, not lifting his gaze from the floor.

"But no matter what, we must figure out something soon, we are running out of time. The child will be born in less than a month", he added and finally lifted his gaze, locking his eyes with Wesley. The younger man could see the despair in them. There was nothing he could say to make the situation better and he only hoped they would have time to find a solution before it was too late.

xxx

Lilah walked down the hallway towards her office when she noticed Gavin talking to her secretary. A wolfish smile rose to her lips and she made her way to him. He didn't notice her until she spoke. "Trying to fish information from my secretary?", she questioned with a innocent look in her eyes that clashed with the crooked grin on her lips.

"I don't need to lower myself into that. I'm doing just fine on my own", he answered turning to her with his usual look of superiority on his face.

"Yeah, I heard about that. I bet he must be shaking from fear while reading those building code violations", she said sarcastically and faked a shiver. Gavin glared at the woman, just then noticing the papers in her hand.

"I fight him with my own way", he stated and grabbed the stack of papers from her hand. She just gave him a sardonic smile, she had practically won the game.

"You do that", she said and turned, walking to her office. She closed the door behind her and headed towards the desk.

"Miss Morgan", came a male voice from behind her and she spun around, taking a quick breath. She thought Angel was the only one that could do that.

"Riley", she stated with a polite smile and the man stepped away from the shadows. "I didn't know we had an appointment", she stated and walked to stand behind her desk. She signed to the seat in the front.

"No, we didn't have an appointment, I just wanted to once again thank you and your company for taking care of me. I feel the treatment is really helping", Riley said and walked closer, taking a seat in the chair. He gave Lilah a charming smile.

"It has been a pleasure, Riley. You needed help and our company was glad to give it to you", Lilah said with the sweetest smile she could muster. She felt like puking but she was a professional after all.

"Why I now wanted to thank you is because I'm going back home with Buffy. She has forgiven me for what happened but now I'm better and I'm taking her with me to Iowa. I'm going to raise the child as my own. Iowa will be a perfect place to raise a family and no disgusting demon is going to come between us", Riley told her and she just nodded her head with a smile. Those Initiative drugs really messed with his head. But this was not going according to her plans, she didn't really care if the crazy soldier took the slayer with him to Ohio or whatever but the Wolfram & Hart had plans for the baby. The prophecy was unclear like many others so not even the law firm was certain if it really meant the slayer or someone else but she wasn't one to take unnecessary chances.

"I guess congratulations are in order", she said with a fake politeness.

"Thank you. But I must be going now", Riley said and got up from the chair, Lilah did the same. "I have to make travel arrangements and get some things sorted out before leaving", he added. Lilah walked around the desk and extended her hand to him.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you", the lie had no trouble passing her lips. Again Riley gave her one of his college boy smiles and shook her hand.

"Yes, it was nice meeting you but I doubt we will be meeting again unless you decide to visit Iowa", Riley said and inwardly Lilah grimaced, she'd rather join the AI team than voluntarily visit Riley Finn in Iowa.

Riley left the office and she returned back to her seat behind the desk. There was a deep frown on her face, that crackpot was messing with his plans. She needed to think about her next move very carefully.

xxx

Later that morning Buffy and Gunn got Willow and Tara from the dorm room and walked them to every class. They waited by the door till the class was dismissed and followed to the next one. The whole day Buffy only let Willow out of her sight when she had to wait outside in the hallway and the only time she got to come in was during their wiccan meeting. She was so bored out of her mind that she actually wished that the thing that was after Willow would try something so she could have something else to think about than which scented candle was the best.

It was the end of the day and she and Gunn were walking the two women to their last class of the day. "Could you please stop worrying. You don't have to follow my every movement, you know", Willow said with a lopsided smile. She had missed her friend's company since she moved to L.A and she even was jealous of the time Buffy spent with Cordelia but following her everywhere like she was going to disappear wasn't her idea of quality time together.

"Humor me", Buffy answered wryly. They stopped in front of the classroom, moving to stand by the wall so the weren't in the way of people who were going inside.

"I... I agree with Buffy. Cordelia saw in her vision that... that you're in danger, so I think it's better to be... safe t-than sorry. I don't want anything to happen to you", Tara said placing a gentle hand to Willow's arm. The redhead turned to look at her girlfriend with a soft smile and nodded, she didn't want them to worry because of her.

"Alright, I see I'm outnumbered", she sighed and turned to Buffy. "But you can't come to class with us. The professor is very strict and probably would ask you to enroll first. But don't worry, I'll be perfectly safe in a room full of people", she assured but Buffy didn't look convinced.

"Buffy, Willow will be fine. Her girl is a witchy woman too so stop worrying", Gunn said stepping closer and Willow let out a sigh of relief, at least someone was on her side. She looked inside the classroom, it appeared only she and Tara were missing.

"We need to go inside but we'll see you later. Stop worrying", Willow said and went inside with Tara, they closed the door behind them.

"She's right, you need to stop worrying. Angel would have a fit if he knew", Gunn said and guided the blonde to sit to the bench on the corridor.

"Tell him and you'll be eating through a straw for weeks", she threatened and gave the man a sweet smile that made her look like a saint.

"And I believe you so I'm not telling Angel anything", he stated raising his hands in surrender. She grinned at him.

"Could you get me a sandwich or something from the cafeteria? Please", she asked, again flashing the sweet smile that made it hard to say no to her.

"I promised Angel I wouldn't leave you alone", he stated.

"I just got into a comfortable position and who are you more afraid of, me or Angel?" she asked with a raised eyebrow and quirky grin.

"Alright, alright. I'll get you a sandwich", he said sighing in surrender and got up from the bench, heading down the hallway. There was no way he was going to argue against a hormonally imbalanced slayer, it was definitely bad for the health.

xxx

The class was dismissed and people started to gather their things and slowly pour out of the door. Willow turned to look at Tara with a crooked smile on her lips. "I think we better hurry out of here before Buffy comes to get us", she said and Tara shared the smile with her.

"I think you might be right. But she's just worried about you, we all are", Tara said and bent down to pick up her bag from the floor.

"I know", Willow answered.

Tara sat up straight and started to get up from her seat when she noticed Willow wasn't there. "Willow?" she questioned looking around. She jumped to her feet and spun around, frantically looking around the room. The seats were empty and a flock of students were making their way to the door, the redhead was not among them.

Buffy and Gunn walked in, finding Tara searching the room in near panic. "Tara, where's Willow?" Buffy asked and Tara spun around, looking at her with frightened eyes.

"I don't know", she answered.

"She didn't come out", Buffy stated, dread creeping into her mind. Her eyes spotted Willow's bag on the floor. "And her bag is still here", she added and picked it up.

"I... I just... I just turned my back to... to her for few seconds. I heard her talking. And then... and then she just wasn't there", Tara explained nearly in tears.

"It's gonna be alright, we'll find her", Buffy assured the woman and gently placed her hand to her arm. She turned to look at Gunn. "Call Cordy and tell her to take the others and come here. We'll search the campus if there's any signs of her or if anyone saw anything, okay?" she said and Gunn nodded before leaving the room to make the phone call.

xxx

After searching through the campus and every possible place, the group except Xander and Anya who were checking out a place, returned to Giles' apartment. Angel turned to look at the door as they walked in and he didn't need to ask if they had any luck because the looks on their faces told everything. With a tired sigh Buffy sat down to the sofa, they had had no luck in finding Willow and she felt powerless, a feeling she truly didn't like. Angel sat down next to her and took a hold of her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze to let her know he was there for her. She turned to look at him and gave him a small smile, even though it was hard to come by.

Tara glanced around the room, wringing her hands nervously and after gathering enough courage, she shyly approached Giles. "Uhmm... Mr Giles", she said quietly and Giles turned to look at the young woman. "Uhmm... I... I could try a tracking spell to find Willow", she suggested.

"That is worth a try. I have some ingredients in the pantry that might be helpful and if something is missing, I'll just pop in to the Magic Shop", Giles said and guided Tara to the kitchen.

Only moments later Xander and Anya walked in through the door. "Any luck? Cause we didn't have any", he said and with a sigh sat down to a chair. Anya followed him and Buffy couldn't help but stare, she was wearing the most ridiculous high heels she had ever seen.

"Anya, can you actually walk in those heels?" Buffy asked and Anya gave her a strange look.

"Of course I can walk. Why wouldn't I?" she questioned looking Buffy like she was blind. She turned her gaze to the brunette that was sitting on the other side of the room and glared at her. Of course her choice of shoes had everything to do with Cordelia, they made her look taller against the brunette who's presence was stirring strange feelings in her, feelings that she didn't like.

"If you say so", Buffy said quietly.

The door flew open and Faith walked in, shutting it behind her with a loud noise. "So what did I miss?" she asked, ignoring the glared coming from Xander and Cordelia. She walked into the living room and fell down to the couch next to Buffy.

"We couldn't find Willow", Buffy answered quietly.

"Don't worry, we'll find Red", Faith assured, patting the top of her hand.

Giles and Tara returned from the kitchen and set some things to the table. "Tara is going to perform a locator spell so there might be some electricity and odd smells in the air", Giles warned and took a step back to give Tara room to work. She sat down to the table and mixed some ingredients together before starting to chant in a quiet voice. She added something into the bowl and a light blue smoke filled the room. Tara kept chanting till suddenly she cried out in pain. Her face twisted in agony and gasping for breath she tried to continue chanting. She started convulsing and fell down from the chair. The smoke disappeared.

Giles hurried to the fallen girl. "Tara?" he questioned and the girl in question opened her eyes, she was breathing heavily.

"I... I couldn't find her. Something was stopping me from getting through", she said and slowly sat up.

"What ever took Willow must have been prepared for this", Giles stated thoughtfully and helped Tara back into the chair.

"Oh great, now I smell like sulfur", Cordelia muttered wrinkling her nose but everyone just ignored her.

"So what do we do now?" Buffy asked slowly getting up from the couch and turning to look at Giles.

"Who ever it was that was blocking the spell, it was powerful. I could feel it", Tara said and Giles' frown deepened. He took off his glasses and absently started to polish them.

"I know a chap who I could call. He likes to keep himself up to date on what is going on underground, he might give us a clue of what we're dealing with", he said.

"Then call him", Buffy ordered and without need to be told twice he picked up the phone and dialed a number.

Fifteen minutes later he hung up with a sigh and turned to look at the others that were staring at him expectantly. "He said there's a power hungry sorcerer in town. Or at least that's the word", he said and once again took off his glasses, starting to clean them.

"Did he know anything specific? Like who the guy is?" Buffy asked and Giles shook his head.

"I'm afraid not. This is second hand information for him also and he doesn't even know the sorcerer's name for sure."

Buffy let out a frustrated sigh. "So we have nothing."

Angel came to stand behind her and calmingly rubbed her lower back. "At least now we know what to look for. Don't worry, we'll find Willow", he said with a soft voice. She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder.

"Maybe we should go back to Willy's and ask him nicely", he added and Buffy's face seemed to brighten instantly.

"Can I come?"

Angel shook his head and Buffy gave him a pout. "Why not? I'd let you do all the interrogating", she promised but he didn't seem to be wavering.

"No", was his firm answer.

"Don't worry, B, I'll take good care of the hubby", Faith said and patted the blonde's shoulder.

"Not really helping", Buffy singsonged, giving her a hard look. Faith just smirked.

"One more month and you can handle rousting Willy and I'll look after the girly while mom's at work", Faith said not loosing the smirk.

"What, you gonna teach the girl how to dress like trailer trash?" Cordelia questioned with a raised eyebrow and folded her arms over her chest. Faith turned to look at her taking the same stance.

"I don't think I need to since she can learn how to dress like a hooker from you", she shot back.

Buffy stepped in between the two women knowing soon it could get ugly. "Alright, draw your claws back in and calm down. Remember, the baby might be a boy and we have more important things to worry about. Like beating Willy till he tells us where Willow is", she said sternly.

"Okay, okay, don't get your panties in a twist. Angie and I will go talk to Willy and you can spend some quality time with Barbie here", Faith said and Buffy gave her a chastising look. She turned to look at Cordelia who was clearly struggling to keep herself from retaliating and somehow she managed to keep quiet.

"Okay, be careful", Buffy said and handed Angel a stake.

"We will. And try not to worry", he answered and brushed a soft kiss next to her lips.

"I'll try", she answered. Angel and Faith left and Buffy went back to sit on the couch. She was frowning and biting her lip, she hated it when she was left behind but thankfully this time she wasn't bursting into tears.

xxx

Angel and Faith walked into the bar and Willy turned to look at the arrivals. A frown rose to his face, the boy and his strange girlfriend had stopped by earlier and it seemed like they sent the big guns. "Angel! Slayer! What brings you here?" he asked loudly and some of the customers started to slink away. Angel walked across the room with Faith following and leaned against the counter, staring at Willy with undisguised scrutiny that would make anybody nervous.

"So what brings you here? With the sister-in-law", Willy questioned looking around himself nervously.

"Cut the crap, Willy. There's a new guy in town and he's got Red. Where is he hiding?" Faith questioned and grabbed Willy by his shirt, pulling him against the counter.

"I know nothing!" he swore raising his hands up in surrender and with a roll of her eyes, Faith let go of his shirt. He straightened the shirt, taking a step back.

"I don't believe you, Willy. So let's try again. What do you know?" Angel asked, placing the palms of his hands to the bar surface and leaned closer. Willy seemed to wither under the hard gaze.

"Come on, Angel. I know nothin'", he stammered. Without a warning, Angel grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the floor.

"I am not going to repeat the question", he said, not only did he care about Willow but the situation was causing Buffy stress and that was not good for the baby.

"Okay, okay!" Willy cried out with his hands waving in the air. Angel set him back to the floor but didn't let go of the shirt. "I've only heard stuff, gossip really. But the word is that there's a new player in town. A powerful guy, someone you don't want to mess with", he explained but was interrupted by a impatient Faith.

"We already know that. Get to the point", she ordered.

"I was getting there. Anyway, the word is this guy has power, lots of it but he wants more. He has a talk with the shady law firm on your turf and they signed him this way. I don't know where he's hiding but I've heard he has an expensive taste, won't even drink in a joint like this", Willy explained quickly, looking shiftily at Faith and Angel who finally let go of his shirt. Angel stared at the human with sharp eyes, trying to find out if he was lying but as it appeared that he wasn't, he took a step back and nodded.

"Let's go back and start to look into this", he said and Faith frowned.

"But I didn't even get to hit him", she complained.

"If the story doesn't check out, you'll get another chance", Angel answered and started walking towards the door. Once they were outside, Faith turned to look at him carefully.

"You know, you were getting really scary out there. I've only had one run in with your evil half and I was getting the chills in there."

Angel didn't say anything, just continued walking. Faith ran after him and grabbed his arm, stopping him. "Hey! What's going on? Cause you were rougher with Willy than you needed to be", she questioned, staring at his face trying to find signs of what was going on in his head but she got nothing.

"It was easier that way. We don't have time to waste", he answered shortly and tried to continue walking but Faith didn't let go of his arm.

"I don't think that's just it", she said and Angel sighed deeply.

"Fine. I care about Willow, but I care about Buffy more and this whole situation is not good for her. Or the baby. And right in there I heard that whatever is after Willow was sent here by Wolfram & Hart", he answered, roughly signing towards the bar door.

"The evil law firm?" Faith asked with a frown.

"Yeah. And the reason they came after Willow is because it gets to Buffy and what gets to Buffy, gets to me."

"But your soul is bound. What's the use on messing you up? How are they gonna get Angelus out?" Faith questioned clearly not understanding the situation.

"The curse is no longer an issue, my soul was bound by magic but it can be taken away", Angel answered and started walking towards the car.

xxx

Angel and Faith returned to Giles' apartment and shared the information Willy had spilled. Tara worked on the computer and tried to find possible hideouts where Willow might be kept. Since Willy had mentioned the sorcerer had expensive taste, they looked for large rented houses, leaving out the hotels since they had too many people. Tara printed three pages and grabbed the papers before approaching Angel who was packing weapons with Faith and Gunn.

"Umm... Angel?" she said quietly and the man in question turned to look at her. "These three places were rented during the last few days. They all are in secluded areas", she added more confidently and handed the papers to Angel.

"Thank you, Tara", he said and started to read through the papers. "Okay, Faith, Gunn, Wesley, Giles, take your weapons. We need to check these places. We'll do them one by one, I don't think we should separate", he ordered and handed the papers to Giles.

"Please, let me come with you", Tara said taking a step closer to Angel. She could see he was hesitant. "Please", she begged and finally Angel nodded in consent.

Everyone was gathering their weapons, including Xander. Angel walked closer and took the battle axe from his hands. "You're not coming", he stated and Xander glared at the vampire.

"What you mean, I'm not coming?! You can't stop me, Willow is my best friend!" he protested trying to grab the axe back but Angel didn't give it to him.

"I know you're worried about Willow, we all are but you're still not coming. Stay here and we'll bring her back", Angel said with his reasoning-voice.

"Who died and made you the boss?!" Xander said and again tried to take the axe from him but it wouldn't move from his hands.

"Hey! Why don't you just shut up, Xander", Cordelia said and placed her hands on her hips. Xander turned his glare to her.

"What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be working on your regular street corner?" Xander shot back and Cordelia's eyes narrowed. She took a step forward and poked her finger to his chest.

"Listen to me, Xander Harris", Cordelia started but was interrupted when Buffy stepped in between them.

"Can't you behave for one minute?" she questioned and grabbed Xander, pushing him away from Cordelia.

Angel used that moment to guide her away from Xander. "Can you believe him?!" she huffed, still glaring at her former boyfriend who returned her gaze with equal force.

"He's just concerned about Willow", Angel stated and Cordelia turned her eyes to him in surprise.

"I can't believe you're defending him. You know he hated you before you turned into Angelus."

"Just ignore him. I need you to look after Buffy while we're out, okay", he said looking at the seer seriously and finally she nodded, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Sure she didn't like babysitting a grown woman but it wasn't like she wanted to go after the thing that had Willow, the vision had been enough.

"Just be careful, okay. What I felt in that vision wasn't just a little prick under the skin", she said with concern lacing her voice.

"Hey, I'm not going to get hurt. I have too much to live for now", he stated and turned to look at Buffy who was still trying to get Xander to calm down. "Just try to keep Buffy from worrying too much. This whole thing has been hard on her and she should avoid stress", he continued, a deep frown forming to his face.

"Of course she is stressed! Her best friend is kidnapped by some weirdo and about to be seriously tortured!" Cordelia said a bit too loudly and Angel gave her a hard look, that wasn't his idea of keeping Buffy calm. She just gave him a oops-look and shrugged her shoulders with a wide apologizing smile.

He shook his head in exasperation and made his way to Buffy who now was alone since Xander had gone to sit with Anya and sulk. "We'll bring Willow back", he assured her and gently rubbed her back. She turned to look at him and smiled softly.

"I know."

"Try not..." he started but she interrupted him. "...to worry too much", she finished for him and smiled crookedly, resisting the need to roll her eyes. "I try not to", she added and he gave her a small smile.

"We need to get going now", he stated.

"I know. Be careful", she said and grabbed him by the back of his neck, pulling him into a kiss. After a while he ended the kiss and pulled back, still keeping his forehead pressed against hers.

"I will. I'll see you later", he said and brushed his lips against her cheek before taking a step back. He grabbed a battle axe from the table and left with rest of the group following.

xxx

The group had checked one of the locations but it wasn't the right one so they continued to the second one. Tara looked at the dark building and shivers ran through her. "This is the one", she said quietly and the others turned to look at her.

"Are you certain?" Giles asked and she nodded.

"I can feel the power all the way from the house", she answered.

"Then lets give him a visit", Angel stated and they continued their journey to the house.

"You'd think he'd have someone at guard", Wesley said as they reached the door.

"He has", Angel stated and everyone turned to look around, there was a group of vampires surrounding them. "Tara, stay in the background", Angel ordered and handed her the stake Buffy had given him earlier in the evening, he was the one who had given her permission to join them so he also felt responsible for her safety.

Both sides attacked and Angel staked the first one in surprise that caused the others to attack more fiercely as they realized they had underestimated their competition. One of the vampires struck Giles against the wall and as he was dazed, the vampire leaned in for a bite. Angel was battling against another vampire when he noticed what was happening, he kicked the vampire with a roundhouse kick, sending him staggering back and cut the head off from the vampire that was pinning Giles against the wall. With the same motion he decapitated the other vampire. Giles fell down to the ground, still dazed and Tara hurried to him, helping him back to his feet.

In less than ten minutes they managed to dust all vampires except for two that escaped inside. "I'm sure there's more inside and now we don't have surprise attack", Angel stated as they walked inside.

Despite being discovered, they moved quietly through the house, looking for a sign of Willow till the silence was broken by a painful scream and they sprinted into run, heading towards the voice. At the door they saw a dark figure looming over a frightened Willow, tears were running down her cheeks and her face was twisted in pain. The man's fingers were embedded into her skull. Tara gasped at the sight and it was enough to put a stop to the others as well.

With an angry growl, Angel lunged at them and tackled the sorcerer off of Willow. She fell to the ground, gasping for air, it felt like life had been drained out of her. She felt weak and was even paler than usual, even her lips were cracked. Tara rushed to her girlfriend and smoothed her red hair back before helping her to her feet. She was so weak that Tara had to practically carry her away from the fight.

"Oh damn", Giles sighed as a small group of vampires burst into the room.

Angel was aware of the new arrivals but he put all his concentration on the sorcerer he was fighting against, the guy was strong and the power he had stolen from Willow was flowing in his veins. They traded blows as the rest of the gang fought against the minions.

Every time the sorcerer tried to start to chant something, Angel quieted him with a strong blow to the jaw but not even that was enough when he lost his axe in the heat of a battle and was cornered against the wall. He tried to hit his aggressor but the sorcerer just avoided his hit and grabbed him by the head. His fingers dug inside Angel's head and the vampire's face twisted in pain, it was worse than the time he lost his soul. But somehow he found the strength to move and managed to kick his leg out, hitting the sorcerer's knee and breaking it. The sorcerer lost the contact with his head and on wobbly legs Angel got up and with a quick move, snapped the man's neck.

He fell back to his knees, gasping for air that he didn't need. He felt weak but he couldn't just stay there, the others were still fighting against the remaining vampires. Slowly he climbed back to his feet and headed to where his axe was laying. By the time he got to it and lifted it off the ground, the last vampire had been dusted.

"How exactly do you think you can help in the condition you are in?" Wesley questioned, wiping the sweat off his brow.

"Don't really know", Angel stated and fell back to the floor. Wesley and Gunn went to him and lifted him off the floor, he only stayed on his feet because they were holding him up.

"You know Buffy isn't gonna like this", Gunn stated and Angel grimaced at the thought of facing her.

"I know", he answered glumly.

There was a loud whack and everyone turned around, in the process Gunn and Wesley lost their hold on Angel and he fell down to the floor. "I'm terribly sorry", Wesley apologized as they stated that the sound came when Giles cut the sorcerer's head off. He and Gunn lifted Angel back to his feet.

"Was that really necessary?!" he questioned, annoyance clear in his voice.

"I believe it was, his eyes were moving", Giles answered.

"Not you, I mean them", Angel said and nodded to the both sides of his head.

xxx

Willow was sitting on her bed, propped against a pile of pillows. She was still feeling weak but her strength was slowly coming back to her, very slowly. That was the reason she had skipped the classes and not many things got her to do that. Buffy returned back to the room, holding two steaming cups of tea and she sat to the edge of the bed, handing Willow the other cup.

"Be careful, it's still hot", she warned.

"Thanks", Willow said with a smile and blew to the hot liquid. She glanced at Buffy who was staring into her own cup like there was something interesting in the bottom of it. Buffy felt her friend's stare and turned to look at her.

"We were really scared, Will", she said in a quiet voice.

"I know. I was too. But I also knew you'd come and rescue me", she answered.

"But you shouldn't have been taken in the first place. I should have..." Buffy didn't get to finish when Willow interrupted her.

"Hey, don't get all guilt tripping on me. I thought that was Angel's job. And I chose to go to classes, it wasn't your fault and it wasn't Tara's fault, so you both need to stop blaming yourselves", she said sternly and took a sip of the tea. "Hot!" she breathed out as the liquid burned her tongue.

"Do you want me to get you cold water?" Buffy asked and started to get up but Willow placed her hand on her arm and shook her head.

"No, I'm fine. Just sit with me", she said and Buffy relaxed back to her seat. There was a long moment of silence till she was the one to break it.

"How are you feeling?" she asked with concern clear in her voice.

"I'm fine. A little weak, a little sore and a little tired with a little headache but I'm fine. How's Angel?" she answered.

"He's okay, gaining his strength back. Although not as quickly as I'd like but he can't drink from me either because I'm pregnant", Buffy answered with a frustrated sigh.

"Well, that's good. I mean that he's okay. Not that he's weak or that he can't drink", Willow said awkwardly, then frowned. "Uhm... Do you have to go back to LA right away?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, changing the subject.

"Sorry but yeah, we do. Angel and I are meeting the midwife in Caritas tomorrow", Buffy answered with a apologetic smile.

"Caritas? The demon bar?" Willow questioned with her frown deepening.

"It's in the afternoon when it's not open yet. Lorne suggested it since it's a violence free zone and he arranged the whole thing. He's practically the baby's fairy godfather", Buffy explained with a small smile rising to her lips as she mentioned the baby.

"Lorne's the green singing demon?" Willow questioned, she felt the jealousy bubbling inside of herself, Buffy had told a lot about her new friends and she couldn't keep the feeling from surfacing. Wasn't it enough that Cordelia got to spend more time with Buffy than she did? And now some demon was hogging the baby as well.

"Yeah, he's the one. I think you're gonna love him when you meet him", Buffy answered.

"I'm sure", Willow muttered but Buffy didn't seem to notice it. She took a sip from her cup and her eyes landed on the clock on the bedside table.

"I'm sorry, Willow but I need to get going. I promised I'd meet mom for lunch. She would never forgive me if she heard I was here and didn't even see her", she said and got up from the bed.

"Okay, go meet your mother", Willow said and set her cup to the table. Buffy grabbed her jacket and headed to the door but turned to look at Willow before she opened it. "I'll come see you later, okay?"

"Okay. I won't be going anywhere", Willow answered with a small smile.

"I'll see you later", Buffy said and left the room, gently closing the door behind her.

"Later", Willow whispered to the empty room and laid down to the bed.

.

To be continued...


	25. Conclusion

**A/N:** Thank you to all readers and especially to those who left reviews. I know it's been over a month since last update, so thanks for being patient with me. My muse wasn't cooperating with me and now I was once again without internet connection for several days because of the annoying company I have the contract with but I'm planning on changing the company to one that's internet connection actually works. But anyway, now my muse has returned home and I'm heading off to finish the next chapter on Just one night.

* * *

**Chapter 25: Conclusion**

Buffy opened her eyes and stretched on the bed. She yawned and slowly turned to her side, burrowing her face back to the pillow. "Good, you're awake", Angel said and climbed into bed next to her. She opened one eye and tried to glare at him.

"No, I'm not", she muttered and closed it again. He chuckled and laid down to the bed.

"Do you want to shower before we go to Caritas?" he asked and again she opened her eyes, this time both of them.

"Yeah. What time is it?"

"We still have an hour", he answered.

"Can I take another nap?" she asked and looked at him like a child asking for candy. She patted her eyelashes at him with a grin and he let out a long sigh.

"Fine, I'll wake you up in half an hour", he conceded, then turned to look at her more sternly. "But we have to be there in an hour to meet the midwife. Wesley will drive you."

"I still can't believe you're letting him drive the Angel-mobile", Buffy grinned.

"It's not like I can drive it there and you're not going to be walking around in the sewers", he said.

"Well, walking in the sewers really isn't my opinion of fun either", she answered sardonically, every time she went to the sewers something bad happened, like a demon trying to drown her and the biggest catastrophe of her life, when Angel broke up with her. Angel could see what she was thinking from the sad look in her eyes and quickly he pulled her into his arms, smoothing his hand over her hair and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

"I love you", he whispered and a soft smile rose to her lips. She turned her head to look at him.

"I know. And I love you too", she answered and lowered her head to his shoulder. Her fingers were making small patterns on his chest that unfortunately was covered by his shirt. Suddenly she didn't feel like napping anymore but she did want to hold on to the moment, stay in his safe arms and reassure herself he was with her and not going away.

xxx

By the time Buffy and Wesley arrived to the Caritas, Angel was already there. Cordelia had stayed in the Hyperion in case a client called while Gunn was checking a lead. Lorne was leaning against the bar with a seabreeze in hand when Buffy and Wesley walked down the stairs. His eyes turned to the door and a welcoming smile rose to his lips. "Look at you", he said and quickly crossed the distance between him and Buffy.

"Honey bun, you're practically glowing", he stated, placing his hands to her shoulders and looked at her. "And I mean that figuratively", he quickly added.

"Thanks. I think", Buffy said and a thoughtful frown formed to her face.

"I meant it as a compliment", Lorne clarified and guided her to the table, pulling out a chair for her. She looked around herself but didn't see the midwife, only Angel and Wesley talking while Angel watched her from the corner of his eye.

"Maria should be here any minute now", Lorne said and as soon as the words left his mouth, he let out a startled yell and jumped in his seat. "Maria, you promised to stop doing that", he chastised. Buffy turned in her seat and found the midwife standing behind her.

"Sorry, Lorne but I was running late", she explained, then turned her gaze to Buffy. "Nice to see you again", she said to her and in a blink of an eye she was gone. "And you too", came her voice from Angel's side.

Lorne turned to look at her and got up from the table. "I figure this is a family pow wow so I'll go talk to the scruffy and scrumptious over there", he said and Buffy turned to look at him with questioning eyes. With a smile he signed to where Wesley was sitting.

"Scrumptious?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, lately Wesley had started to look a little scruffy instead of stuffy but he still wasn't someone she would call scrumptious, for her that would be Angel. Her eyes turned to the said vampire that was walking towards the table with the midwife. He sat next to her and placed a soft kiss to her forehead, his hand going down to her stomach.

"Since the baby is coming in few weeks, I'd like to have our next meeting at the Hyperion to see where the birth is going to take place, get a feel of the surroundings and such", Maria went straight to the point, she never had been one to beat around the bush.

"Yeah, sure", Buffy said with a nod. But Angel looked worried, he had a deep frown on his face and he was watching Buffy from the corner of his eye.

"Are you sure you want to have the baby at the hotel?" he asked turning to look at her.

"Angel, we've been through this already. I couldn't really think about pushing when I'm panicking from just being in a hospital", she sighed.

"I know, I know. I just... I worry", he said shaking his head. Maria smiled gently at the soon to be father.

"Home birth does have its risks but giving birth always has its risks, even in a hospital. But if something goes wrong I can get you into the hospital in a blink of an eye. And I mean that literally", she assured, looking at Buffy but Angel didn't look convinced, he was now wearing even deeper frown. He knew technology and medical treatments had changed since his time but he could still clearly remember how women he knew had died in childbirth and just the possibility he might loose Buffy made his insides turn cold. No matter how much it would hurt, he could live with the thought of her living a normal life with someone else as long as she was alive but the thought of existing in a world without her. He couldn't even finish the thought.

Buffy saw that he was not in a pleasant place with his thoughts and she took his hand into hers, giving it a soft squeeze. He lifted his gaze to her, looking at her with such raw emotion that she wanted to weep.

"I'm sensing your fears but you don't need to worry, I've been helping children into this world for over 300 hundred years so I can say I know what I'm doing", Maria assured but she could see Angel was still not convinced, actually now he was looking at her more speculatively. "Didn't Lorne mention I'm an empath. I'm sure I mentioned it last time we met."

"No, it didn't come up", Buffy answered, she was more worried about Angel than the conversation they were having. It appeared Angel was more worried about giving birth than she was.

"Well, now it did. That's another advantage at my job since I can feel if the baby or the mother is in distress", Maria said with a careless wave of a hand.

"Don't worry boys and girls, Maria knows what she's doing. She just helped a Spix demon deliver fifteen pups so I think she can handle one", Lorne said as he approached the table. He had left Wesley sitting to the bar after he had given the man a drink, he sure looked like he needed one. He was radiating a blinding amount of nervousness and he didn't need to sing for Lorne to know that it was because of the baby.

"It appears that Angel-face is going to be the designated driver", he stated and nodded towards the bar. He glanced at Angel, then turned his gaze back to Buffy. "I'm sensing more nervousness from the big guy than you, I'd offer him a drink but since he's driving no can do. Of course I can't say nothing for sure unless you lovebirds sing me a duet."

"I don't think you have to be afraid of that", Buffy stated and patted the back of his hand comfortingly.

xxx

Cordelia was flipping through the latest gossip magazine but nothing seemed to be catching her interest. She was bored. For nearly an hour she had waited for the telephone to ring because she had an eye on a pair of new shoes but not the money to buy them, a rich client would solve that problem. Those shoes were the bulletproof way to win that shampoo commercial, she was sure of that.

With a sigh she closed the magazine, just a week earlier it had said Angelina Jolie was pregnant and now it was saying she had anorexia, couldn't they just make up their mind. She looked through the stack of magazines and news papers, she wasn't interested in the magazines that belonged to Wesley or in Gunn's sports magazines. She rolled her eyes at them, she was sure it wasn't the cars that drew his intention to them. She pulled out a news paper and for a long while she contemplated if she was bored enough to read it and she came to the conclusion it might actually help find some clients. She spread the paper on the counter and leaned against it, placing her elbows to the surface and resting her chin on her other hand. Slowly she flipped through the pages trying to find something that would catch her eye but all it did was depress her. Why did the news have to be so depressing?

She heard the door open and close and footsteps nearing. She lifted her eyes from the paper, ready to plaster a wide smile to her face but the intention died when she recognized who the arrival was. "Leave. You're not welcome here", she said with a cool voice and her famous Queen C glare. She didn't even bother to walk around the desk.

"I don't think you have any say in that. I'm here to see Buffy", Riley said, the woman didn't scare her.

"Well tough, she isn't here", Cordelia answered and started flipping through the news paper as if he wasn't there.

"Where is she?" Riley asked with a polite but demanding voice.

"None of your business", Cordelia answered and raised her eyes from the paper. "Buffy may forgive what shit you've pulled with the excuse that you're a wackjob and now you're all better cause you're popping pills but let me tell you, mister, I'm not buying it. You kidnapped her, tried to kill Angel, held her mother hostage and most of all, her and Angel's baby might have gotten hurt because of you so I'm not telling you squat. So why don't you go back to Kansas or where ever you crawled out of cause this is really pathetic. Do you really think she'd settle for someone like you when she can have the man she loves?"

Soon she noticed she had gone too far when Riley's face darkened dangerously. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to taunt a crazy person? She let out a startled yelp as he pounced and grabbed her arm with a iron grip.

"Listen to me, you bitch", he growled, grinding his teeth together in anger. "You're going to tell me where Buffy is. Right now!" he nearly yelled, shaking her. He was quickly loosing his patience and Cordelia could feel his finger digging into her skin, his grip tightening around her arm. She was sure she was going to be black and blue the next day.

"Let me go, psycho!" she yelled and tried to pull her arm away from him without any success. She remembered Buffy or Angel once mentioning that he was taking some Initiative drugs and now she was certain Riley didn't get his strength from working out in a gym.

"Tell me where she is!" he repeated and roughly threw her against the counter, twisting her arm back making her feel like he was trying to rip it off. She tried to struggle but it was pointless, only causing her more pain.

"Dream on!" Cordelia yelled back to him and stomped on his toes with the heel of her stiletto's, making him yelp in pain and loosen his grip in her arm. She spun around and struck him to the nose with the palm of her hand, just like Buffy had taught her. There was a sickening scrunch as her hand came to contact with his nose. He fell to the ground from the unexpected force of the hit, crying out in pain and cupping his nose that was pouring blood to his palm.

Cordelia didn't stay to wait for him to get up, she grabbed her purse from the counter and ran towards the door. But Riley had gotten up from the door and tackled her to the ground, making her fall to the ground with a force that pushed the air out of her lungs. She struggled to breathe, turning to her back.

"You broke my nose, bitch!" he practically screamed and hit her in the face, splitting her lip. She glared at him with cold eyes and blocked his second strike before kneeing him hard to the groin. She pushed him off of her and scrambled up to her feet, running out of the door. She kept on running while digging into the purse till she found her cellphone. She pressed a number on speed dial to Angel's number.

"Angel, it's Cordy. Don't leave the Caritas! Keep Buffy there. -- Riley went crazy and attacked me, he demanded to see Buffy. -- I'm okay. I broke his nose and kneed him hard. -- I'm gonna call Gunn to pick me up. -- Bye", she said to the phone and hung up before pushing Gunn's speed dial number. Oh how she missed having her own car!

xxx

Angel hung up the phone with a deep scowl marring his beautiful face. Buffy was watching him and it couldn't have been good news. "What is it?" she asked, concern evident in her voice. He turned to look at her and his eyes drifted down to her stomach before returning to look at her face with a conflicted expression, he didn't want to worry her but there was no way not to, he had to tell her what had happened.

"Riley attacked Cordelia."

Buffy's eyes widened in alarm. "Oh God! Is she alright?" she breathed out in shock. She thought Riley was better and now Cordelia was attacked. She and her former high school nemesis had become good friends and it was her fault Riley had hurt Cordelia, she shouldn't have believed him so easily.

Wesley stepped away from the bar and came to the couple. "Cordelia was attacked?! Is she alright?" he questioned, his voice showing his concern. Lorne too turned to them, ready to ask the same thing.

"Yes, she's alright", Angel said to everyone, then turned his attention to Buffy. "She managed to escape him", he assured her, he was worried about his friend too but he didn't want to cause Buffy any more stress than was necessary. "We need to stay here, she said Riley is after you."

He wanted to hunt down Riley and torture him with hot pokers but that would mean he'd have to leave Buffy alone and he wasn't willing to do that. She was too vulnerable while nearly nine months pregnant, some months ago she still could fight but not anymore and despite the protection spell on the Caritas he wasn't willing to take any chances.

"So what are we gonna do? Just sit on our hands till he goes away?" Buffy asked, she didn't want to face Riley in the fear of what might happen to the baby but she also couldn't just wait for something to happen.

"No, I just don't want to put you in any danger", he answered and pulled her into his arms, placing a soft kiss to the top of her head. His hand wandered down to her stomach, rubbing it gently.

"I agree with the big guy, you're more safe here because of the sanctuary spell", Lorne said and Angel gave him a appreciative nod. Wesley cleared his throat, drawing the others attention to himself.

"Maybe we should phone Gunn? There is certain safety in numbers and if Riley truly has gone mad, there is no guarantee's of what he might do", he suggested.

"The phone is over there", Lorne told him and signed behind the bar.

"I can't believe it's happening again. He sounded so sincere when he said he was better", Buffy said still not believing what was happening.

"Try not to worry. We'll get through this", Angel assured her. She raised her eyes to his, looking deep into them and she already felt more calm knowing he was there with her. A low growl sounded deep in his chest.

"Get away from him", came Riley's voice from the doorway. Everyone spun around to look at him. Angel guided Buffy to stand behind him and glared at the man. If looks could kill, Riley would have been dead on the ground.

He let out a menacing growl, warning Riley to stay away and as Buffy tried to step around him to talk to Riley, he moved with her, keeping her behind his large frame. "I suggest you leave now, Finn", Angel ground out, trying to keep his demon in control. All he wanted to do was leap at the man and beat him into a bloody pulp but there was no way he would leave Buffy unattended and because of the sanctuary spell it would be pointless to even try.

"Not without Buffy", Riley answered, then his gaze drifted to Wesley who was at the phone behind the bar. "Put the phone down", he ordered.

"I suggest you hurry, he is already here", Wesley said quietly to the phone.

"I told you to put the phone down!" Riley yelled angrily and pulled out a gun, firing twice. Wesley ducked down to the ground and covered his head as the bullets broke the mirror, showering the ground with pieces of it.

Riley turned back to Angel and Buffy, pointing the gun at the vampire. "Now. I suggest **you** let Buffy come to me and no one gets hurt", he said with a eerily calm voice.

"You're not touching her", Angel growled. Buffy stepped around him, pushing his hand away as he tried to stop her.

"Riley. Please don't do this", she said pleadingly.

"Buffy, come to me. I can save you, I'll take you with me and you don't have to see him again", Riley said and reached out his free hand. He obviously was still living in his delusional world.

"Riley, I don't need rescuing. I don't want to be away from Angel. Please, you need help", she tried but he shook his head.

"No, I already got help from Lilah. Everything is clear. You're just saying that because you're afraid of him", he said and spat the last word with contempt.

"Lilah? Lilah Morgan from Wolfram & Hart?" Angel questioned and tried to tuck Buffy back behind him to cover but she didn't let him. She didn't let go of his hand, taking courage and strength from him but she also wouldn't go back to cower behind him, she needed to try to get through to Riley and that wasn't possible without eye-contact.

"They were very helpful", Riley just stated.

"I bet they were", Buffy muttered, then raised her eyes back to Riley's talking with deepest sincerity, "Riley, you can't trust them. They were just using you to get to Angel. You need to seek real help, from someone that isn't an evil lawfirm or the Initiative."

"You're wrong! I don't need any help! I'm better now!" Riley yelled and started waving the gun in his hand, running his fingers through his hair repeatedly. Buffy jumped and this time let Angel guide him back behind him.

"When I say 'now', duck behind the bar desk", Angel whispered to her quiet enough that only she could hear.

"Angel..." she started to protest but he interrupted her.

"Just do it."

He moved closer to the bar, keeping her blocked from sight with his body.

"What did you say to her?! Stop moving!" Riley yelled, he was loosing control and coming undone. His mannerism was showing his nervousness and Angel was starting to be afraid in Buffy's behalf. The opportunity he had been waiting for came when there was a sound of the front door opening and footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Now!" Angel whispered to Buffy and she quickly moved behind the bar as he attacked Riley who had turned to point the gun at the doorway. The gun went off as Angel tackled Riley to the ground and hit him hard to the face. Riley tried to reach for the gun but it only slid farther, disappearing under a cabinet. Riley turned to his back and kicked Angel off of him before jumping to his feet, grabbing a baton from his vest and snapping it into full length. He attacked Angel, trying to gain a hit but the vampire ducked his every move.

Gunn ran to help his boss but Riley spun around and hit him with the baton, making him fall to the ground. "Gunn!" Buffy cried out and resisted the urge to run to the seemingly unconscious man. Angel could smell blood in the air, his face changed into vampire visage and with a furious growl he attacked Riley, sending them both crashing into the middle of the tables and chairs. He hit the mad man with great force that sent Riley flying to a table that broke under the force of his landing. Gingerly he got up from the wreck, grabbing a piece of broken table and he lunged at Angel. Angel easily sidestepped him and kicked him to the lower back, sending him sliding across the floor. Riley threw a broken chair at him but Angel ducked it and attacked Riley.

They traded punches and as Riley kicked him, Angel dropped down to the ground and swept his foot from under him. Riley fell heavily against the door, falling to another room with a grunt of pain. He crawled across the room to where the baton had rolled to but Angel kicked it away and grabbed the labels of his vest, hoisting him up to his feet. He managed to hit Angel hard in the face, making him stagger back but like a boomerang Angel returned the favor with vengeance. He dived at Riley and they crashed against the wall, making a deep dent into it. He aimed a hit to Riley's face but he ducked at the last moment causing Angel's fist to sink deep into the wall. Riley grabbed the metal baton from the ground and slashed Angel to the ribs with it. He let out a angry growl, ignoring the pain. As Riley aimed another hit, he grabbed the baton and kneed him in the stomach before smashing him back against the wall, making another dent to it.

"Do they have to destroy my bedroom?" Lorne questioned looking up to the ceiling.

"Would you like them to destroy the bar instead?" Buffy asked and wiped the blood from Gunn's face. As soon as the fighting men had moved to the bedroom, Lorne and Wesley had fetched Gunn from the doorway and brought him into relative safety behind the bar. He was still unconscious but he was breathing steadily and Buffy could see the wound wasn't fatal. She removed her jacket and folded it under his head before turning her attention back to the bedroom door.

The sounds of the fight had quieted and it only made her more scared. She jumped as there was a loud crash coming from outside the building. She turned to Lorne and Wesley before slowly getting up to her feet and starting to head towards the door.

"Sweetie, I don't think it's safe", Lorne said hurrying after her. Wesley did the same and grabbed Buffy's arm, stopping her. She turned to look at him.

"I can't just hide behind the bar and wish for the best", she said and after a while, Wesley nodded slowly.

"I do understand. But just wait for a moment", he said and went to the cabinet in the corner. He dropped to the ground and reached under it, pulling out Riley's gun. "Alright, just stay behind me", Wesley said and slowly walked into the room with Buffy and Lorne following. The room was completely trashed but there was no one in.

"You have really feeble walls, you know", Buffy said as she saw the gaping hole in the bedroom wall.

"It's an old loading dock. It looks like the fight has gone outside", Lorne stated. They could hear the sounds of rain and fighting coming from outside. Buffy neared the hole but as she crossed the room, she stepped on the baton and fell to her back with a cry of pain. Lorne ran to the hole in the wall and yelled Angel's name through it as Wesley kneeled next to Buffy.

"Don't move", he instructed.

"I'm... I'm okay", Buffy whispered but didn't try to move.

"Angel! Buffy's hurt!" Lorne yelled and as soon as Angel heard it, he let out a mad growl and hit already tiring Riley with fury, sending him flying across the alley against the wall. Riley fell down to the wet ground unconscious but Angel didn't spare him more than a glance as he hurried back inside. He jumped in through the hole and dropped down to his knees next to Buffy. If his heart had been beating, it would have stopped then.

"Buffy?" he whispered and ran his hand over her cheek.

"It's okay. I just slipped and fell. It hurts but I'm okay", she said looking into his eyes to let him know she wasn't lying to ease his fears. Angel stared into her eyes, he was afraid but he couldn't smell any blood so it eased his fears a little.

"Could someone help me up cause this floor is really hard?" Buffy questioned and Angel turned his eyes to Wesley, asking if it was alright. Wesley nodded and slowly Angel helped Buffy to her feet. She hissed in pain and rubbed her back but otherwise she seemed fine.

"We should take you to a doctor", Angel stated and this time Buffy didn't protest despite her fear of hospitals, she just nodded.

"What about Riley?" she asked.

"I knocked him unconscious", Angel stated, then turned to Lorne. "Do you have any chains around?"

"Yeah, under the bed", Lorne answered and Buffy gave her a strange look.

"Don't wanna know", she muttered.

"It's a handy place to keep them. I really don't have any room for them in my closet 'cause of my wardrobe", Lorne defended himself giving her a chastising look.

"You go ahead to the hospital. Lorne and I can chain Riley and we'll join you later", Wesley said and took the chains from under the bed. Angel just nodded and gently lifted Buffy into his arms before leaving.

xxx

Buffy's doctor confirmed that the baby was alright but she was taken into observation over the night. Angel was sitting by her bed, holding her hand and gently rubbing her stomach with his other hand as there was a knock on the door. They both turned to look at the door and a moment later Wesley stepped inside.

"I stopped at the gift shop", he stated and waved the box of chocolates in his hand.

"Thanks, Wes", Buffy said with a small smile.

"What happened with Riley?" Angel asked. Wesley shifted on his feet, taking a deep breath before letting it out slowly.

"There was no sign of him", he answered.

"What? What you mean there was no sign of him?" Buffy questioned, voicing the question before Angel had the chance.

"When we went to the alley, Riley was not there", Wesley clarified.

"There is no way he could have recovered from the hit that quickly", Angel stated with a deep frown.

"Yes, I believe he was taken from the alley", Wesley agreed and Angel turned to look at him sharply.

"Wolfram & Hart?"

"That is a possibility. He did mention them", Wesley said.

"What would they want with Riley?" Buffy asked with a similar frown to Angel's.

"I don't know. I don't see any use for him now that he has been discovered", Wesley answered shaking his head. He removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose before putting them back on, he just needed something to busy himself with.

"Whether or not they're going to use him, I think we should keep our eyes more open now", Angel said, his eyes drifting to Buffy's stomach.

"They used him to get to you, to get to our baby. Lindsey said they were coming after our baby and I think Riley was part of the plan but it just didn't work out as they wanted since... you know... he's delusional. And by the way, why didn't the sanctuary spell work in Caritas tonight?" Buffy asked turning her attention to Wesley as her hand covered Angel's on her stomach. It had been bothering her for few hours, while in Caritas she had been too scared and too worried about Angel to think about it but now that she had calmed down, why didn't the spell work? As if reading her mind, Wesley stepped in.

"Lorne explained it to me. If I understood correctly, it had something to do with the fact that Riley is human and the wirings in the wall behind the mirror he shot. I really should look more throughly into the matter but casting spells has never been my strongest point."

"So it doesn't stop humans from being as violent as they want. That's a little unfair", she stated causing Angel to chuckle. He threaded his fingers with hers and turned to look at her with a small curve to his lips but with him it was a smile.

xxx

Lilah walked into her office and set down her briefcase. There was a knock on the door. "Come in", she said and turned to face the door with her arms folded in front of her. Thankfully it wasn't Gavin but she knew he wouldn't have bothered to knock before walking in.

"It is done?" she asked as the man in commando gear stepped into the office.

"Yes. Mr Finn has been placed into containment", the man answered and a satisfied smile rose to Lilah's lips. The man shifted in the balls of his feet and Lilah let out a irritated sigh.

"What is it?"

"Miss Morgan, I know it isn't my business but isn't it a little cruel and unusual punishment to put him into the containment. He's already crazy", he said nervously, Lilah gave him the chills.

"He annoyed the hell out of me", Lilah stated, not giving any other explanation. "You can go", she added dismissively as she noticed he was waiting for a permission to leave. The man left with a nod and as the door closed, Lilah leaned back in her office chair, relaxing against the plush leather. She was disappointed that Riley hadn't turned out to be as useful as she had hoped but it was fine this way too. With a cold but satisfied smile she started to plan her next move.

.

To be continued...

**A/N:** Actually originally I wasn't planning on Riley to go crazy, it just happened. But since now he's been a Wolfram & Hart's pawn, I couldn't just get him cured. Honestly I hadn't thought about making him more than a stalker-ish ex-boyfriend but then he just went cuckoo.


	26. Old enemies

**A/N:** Again, I want to thank you very much for all the reviews. I was supposed to update sooner but for some reason it took me longer to write this chapter than I anticipated or wanted. And if anyone's wondering what happened to Riley (looking at you, Vix *grin*) it is up to the reader. Since Wolfram & Hart has him, he can be in the suburbs with the heart-cutting demon in the basement, locked up like the "ghost" that was after Spike in season 5 of Ats or it can be something else (like a torture chamber with Angelus doing the torturing for Vix), depending on how much (or little) you like Riley Finn.

**

* * *

**

Chapter 26: Old enemies

Angel glanced at his watch and let out a deep sigh. Only thing worse than waiting a woman to get ready was waiting for two.

"They still up there?" Gunn asked and nodded at the stairs as Angel turned to look at him.

"Yes. Maybe I should go check on her", Angel said frowning.

Gunn chuckled and shook his head. "Angel, you should know by now that when Buffy is getting ready it's cutting it close but when she's with Cordy, you can just sit down and relax cause they aren't coming down any time soon", he stated and sat down, taking a relaxed pose.

Angel turned to look at the stairs leading to the second floor and listened carefully. He didn't have to wait long for Buffy and Cordelia to appear to the top of the stairs and he quickly made his way up them to Buffy. He had been overly cautious ever since the fall and wouldn't let her walk the stairs without help, she had already given up on complaining about it.

"Are you ready?" he asked and she nodded. They were going to the hospital for a check up, it was done weekly now that she was on her last month of pregnancy and because of the fall, just to make sure nothing had happened.

"I'm ready and I think I hate hospitals now even more than before", she answered. A small smile twitched on Angel's lips and he brushed a soft kiss across her lips.

"Think of it this way, the baby will be born soon and you don't have to go to the check ups anymore", he comforted but she was still wearing a frown on her face.

"Yeah, then we have to take the baby for the check ups", she answered grudgingly. Cordelia rolled her eyes at her melodramatics.

"Wesley is already waiting in the car", Angel stated as they started down the stairs.

"For how long?" Buffy asked with a smile tucking at her lips.

"A good while", Angel answered.

"But it's one of those days when he's in his own thoughts so I'm sure he isn't too bored. If he keeps this up he'll get wrinkles that can be seen from space", Cordelia stated and Buffy frowned, she had noticed the same thing. Wesley seemed to get more and more anxious by the day, he was constantly wearing a frown and cleaning his glasses. He also worked with his books day and night and was constantly calling Giles. It seemed he talked to Giles more than she did.

"Have you talked to him? He seems a little stressed", Buffy asked turning to look at Angel.

"He says he's working on some translations", he answered.

"Maybe he should just move here, it's not like there's no room and he practically already lives here", Buffy suggested as they made their way towards the car.

"Maybe he likes having his own apartment but I'll ask him", Angel answered deciding not to stretch the topic.

"Oh please, how'd want to live in a place with a newborn baby if it's not his own?" Cordelia stated in her usual manner, getting a chastising look from Angel as Buffy glared at her. "What?" she asked innocently not understanding why she was getting the looks.

"We better just go to the hospital", Angel stated and steered the two women towards the car. Wesley was already sitting in the backseat and Gunn followed, jumping over the edge into the backseat. Angel gave him a dark look.

"What?! I didn't scratch it", Gunn defended himself but it did very little to placate the vampire's displeasure.

"No jumping in the car", Angel ordered looking at Gunn as he opened the front door for Buffy.

"Angel's rehearsing his father-tone", Cordelia stated cheekily, then turned to the two men on the backseat. "And could you two make some room in there?! Why do we have to take everyone into the hospital? It's not like she's going to pop the baby out already, it's just a check-up", she added with annoyance clear in her voice. She gave the two men a menacing look and wisely they moved to the side enough to give her a good space. Angel didn't even bother to answer her, he just started the car.

xxx

Lilah was leafing through a file when the door opened and someone walked in. She let out a annoyed sigh and was about to snap at who ever just walked into her office without knocking but then she raised her gaze, it was Linwood. She immediately stood up.

"Sit down", Linwood ordered and she did as told. She didn't like this, it couldn't be a good sign that he was in her office.

"What can I do for you, sir?" she asked with politeness she didn't feel.

"Wolfram & Hart has decided to take the next step in harvesting the child. We want the mother and the child in our custody before she gives birth", he stated matter of factly.

"I'll make the arrangements", she answered and Linwood nodded, she could see he had something else in his mind.

"I want you to work with Gavin on this one. Given your track record, I believe it is for the best for you to join forces with him. He has done very well for himself, we have a video and audio connection to the hotel because of those exterminators he sent there", Linwood added and Lilah could hear the smugness in his voice, guess Gavin was his new favorite.

"I'll do that, sir", she said controlling herself from grinding her teeth together. With a nod Linwood left the room and moments later Lilah stormed out of her room, directing her icy gaze to her secretary.

"Give me Gavin Park's location right now", she ordered and almost growled as the woman just stared at her with frightened eyes. "I said now or I'll skin you alive", she ground out and returned to her room. After taking a few calming breaths, she grabbed the phone and made a call.

As she hung up the phone, a satisfied smile was playing on her lips. There was a timid knock on the door and after getting permission, her secretary opened the door. She told Lilah where Gavin was at the moment and without giving the woman another glance, she walked out of the room. She stopped outside the room Gavin was in and with a smirk playing on her lips she opened the door, stepping in.

"How'bout that? I just asked myself, if I were a cockroach where would I hide? And voila! There you are", Lilah said and Gavin turned to look at her with exasperation. She didn't seem even a bit affected by him.

"Linwood wants the baby. And the slayer before she gives birth. We're sending a team in", she stated and walked past him, looking at the monitors. They all showed different parts of the Hyperion which seemed to be empty.

"The slayer has a doctor's appointment", Gavin stated. Lilah didn't even bother to look at him.

"I know", she stated and pulled out her cellphone, dialing a number.

xxx

Buffy was sitting on the examination table with Angel standing next to her, Dr Lang was just finishing up. "Why did I even agree to come here?" Cordelia questioned frustrated, she was bored and the whole thing was giving her unpleasant flashbacks from the time she herself had been pregnant with the demon's spawn. Now that she thought about it, when had she become the demon magnet, that was supposed to be Xander's gig.

"You didn't have to come, I said you didn't need to and to that you said that you were coming because the only magazines you hadn't read were Gunn's nudie mags pretending to be about cars", Buffy reminded her. Gunn turned his head to the others as he heard his name being mentioned.

Cordelia just shrugged her shoulders, dismissing the topic. "Whatever. I need some coffee", she stated and started digging into her purse.

"I'll come with you", Gunn said and got up from his chair. He had gotten along just because Angel was paranoid after what happened with Riley and didn't want to leave anyone alone. Gunn knew he could take care of himself but he was worried about Buffy and wanted to be there just in case something was going to happen.

The two turned to look at Buffy and Angel for permission, Cordelia's face pleading for them to let her go. "Go ahead", Angel said and Cordelia fled the room with Gunn following.

"You can get up now", Dr Lang said to Buffy and went to her desk.

"Thanks", Buffy said and slowly moved to the edge. "And I meant to thank you for managing to get an appointment this late", she added and doctor Lang turned to look at her.

"No problem. You're my last patient for the day", she answered and glanced at Wesley. "And I see you don't have to come to these last meetings alone", she added.

"I have a fear of hospitals. It's a phobia. Familiar people help", Buffy said quickly, frowning at how she sounded. Angel gave a comforting squeeze to her hand, his lips curving slightly in amusement.

Doctor Lang smiled and nodded. "Well, that is a good thing you have plenty of people as a support especially now that the baby is coming. Who is very healthy by the way but not ready to arrive yet."

Wesley removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose before putting them back on. He turned his gaze to the doctor before uncertainly approaching her. "Uhm... I've been meaning to ask you... umm... Is there a possibility the baby might be a twin?" he asked.

"A twin?!" Buffy cried out, her eyes widening.

"Uhm... there's been no sign of another baby in any of the ultrasounds", Dr Lang answered, somewhat surprised by the question.

"But is it possible? Perhaps the baby has been hidden behind the other?" Wesley questioned with a frown. Dr Lang sighed, considering the possibility.

"It is possible but not very probable", she answered and Wesley's face fell.

"Oh dear", he breathed out. A frown formed to Angel's face as he watched the back of Wesley's head.

xxx

"Is there something you aren't telling us?" Buffy asked Wesley as they left the room. Cordelia and Gunn got up from the bench by the door, both were holding cups of coffee.

"Uhm... What... what do you mean?" Wesley asked as they started walking down the corridor, Cordelia and Gunn following. Angel turned his eyes to Wesley, he could hear his heartbeat speeding up.

"The twin-thing", Buffy stated. Wesley rubbed his forehead and turned his attention to Buffy.

"It is nothing to worry about. Just curious. And the prophecy I've been working on mentioned a twin, or possibly a horse", he answered knowing full well what the prophecy had said.

"A twin or a horse? That's not a big stretch" Cordelia asked with a raised eyebrow. Wesley turned to look at her.

"It is written on several different languages and some of them are practically extinct", he stated little defensively.

"Okay, sorry that I questioned your translating abilities", she said and raised her arms in surrender.

"We should go see Lorne and ask about the sanctuary spell, if it's possible to make it apply to demons and humans", Angel changed the subject, he was all too used to the pickering.

"Sure, but we have to stop by at the Hyperion first, I have something for Lorne. I'm feeling kinda bad for trashing Caritas", Buffy stated.

The group left the hospital and Angel parked the car to the side of the Hyperion. Buffy was about to get up from her seat when Angel stopped her. "I'll get it. Where is it?" he asked turning to her.

"In my bag, the red one. I think it's on the bed", she answered, she had no intention on getting up from the car if she didn't have to.

"I'll be right back", he said and closed the door, running towards the hotel entrance. He opened the doors and stepped in, the moment he did a strong scent of blood hit his senses. He looked around himself, the lobby was littered with bodies. Slowly he walked further into the lobby, looking around himself.

"Angelus", he heard a eerily familiar voice say and he spun around, his eyes widening in recognition. "I've been looking for you", the man added.

Angel couldn't believe what he was seeing, it couldn't be. "Holtz? My God", he breathed out in disbelief.

"You have no God, demon", Holtz said calmly and walked closer to Angel who was still staring at him. Suddenly he was trapped by iron hooks that held his arms to the sides and one was pressed against his throat, a forceful move could be fatal. He looked around him from the corner of his eye and concluded who held him were demons. He turned his eyes back to Holtz.

"How?" Angel questioned in a whisper, Holtz should have been dead 200 years ago.

"You were the one that brought me here, you and your demon bitch", Holtz said calmly but his voice was full of contempt.

"I don't think that revenge alone is enough to throw you couple centuries to the future", Angel answered and a wry grin rose to Holtz's lips.

"You haven't changed", he stated.

"Actually, a lot of things have changed", Angel answered. Holtz pulled a small bottle from his duster and sprayed it on Angel's face. He felt the burn of holy water and his face shifted into demon visage, soon turning back to human form.

"I'm not seeing any change", Holtz stated, then turned to his free henchmen. "Find the woman. Where Angelus is, Darla can't be far. Or has changed also?" Holtz turned his gaze to Angel challenging him with his eyes as the henchmen left the lobby.

"Lot of things have", Angel stated, hoping Holtz wouldn't find Buffy and the others even though it seemed unavoidable because they were waiting for him. Fear invaded his body and he struggled against the bindings.

"Somehow I doubt things have changed that much", Holtz stated, raising his sword and running the tip across Angel's neck drawing a thin trickle of blood.

Buffy looked at her clock once again and sighed deeply. Wesley had tried to move the car and managed to break a tire, now he and Gunn were trying to change it as Cordelia was watching over them as a moral support.

"Where is he?" Buffy muttered to herself, she had a bad feeling. She looked back at the three changing the tire and with a sigh, she grabbed a dagger from the glovebox slipping it to her jacket's inside pocket and got out of the car. She was almost at the door when she was grabbed by two demons, she didn't have time to reach for the weapon and she was dragged into the hotel.

As Angel saw the two demons pulling Buffy through the doors, he was certain if his heart had been beating it would have stopped right then. He tried to struggle against his bindings but it was no use, he was trapped.

Holtz turned to look at the newcomers, his eyes showing his surprise. "That's not Darla!" he stated and made his way to the three, throwing some water to Buffy's face from the same bottle he had used on Angel.

"Hey!" she cried out in protest as the water splashed to her face.

"You're not a vampire", Holtz said and Buffy glared at him.

"Thanks for telling me, I didn't know that already!" she responded, sarcasm dripping from her voice. Holtz turned his attention to the demons holding her. "Where did you find her? She's obviously with a child", he questioned, knowing he had the wrong woman, a human at that but from the looks she and Angelus were giving each other he knew they were no strangers.

"What is you connection to the demon?" he asked turning his attention back to the woman without waiting for an answer from his henchmen.

"What are you doing to him?!" she shot back a question, she really didn't like the position Angel was being held in and she doubted they were just going to sit down for a cup of tea.

"I am going to kill him, that is what you do to vampires", Holtz answered. He was looking at her with sharp eyes, trying to find out how she fitted into the situation.

"Over my dead body", she ground out, her face darkening and her hazel green eyes staring down at the man in front of her.

"I doubt it will come to that", Holtz stated calmly. He turned around and slowly walked back to Angel. For a long while he stared straight into his eyes and then glanced at Buffy's heavily pregnant stomach before bringing his eyes back to Angel's face.

"What is your relation to this woman, Angelus?" he asked tilting his head to the side.

"Stay away from her", Angel ground out through his teeth, barely managing to control his anger.

"He is not Angelus", Buffy stated with a hard voice and tried to yank her arm out of the demons grip.

"Funny, he looks like Angelus. And it's a face I am unlikely to forget", Holtz said and raised his sword, pressing the tip to Angel's neck.

"No!" Buffy cried out.

Holtz turned to look at her, raising an questioning eyebrow. "Why would you care if this demon lives or dies? I will have justice", he said passionately, then turned his eyes back to the trapped vampire in front of him. "Will she know? Will that demon bitch of yours somehow feel your death and seek vengeance?" he taunted, enjoying the anger that radiated from Angel.

"Darla's in a dust bin. And he is not Angelus! He has a soul now!" Again Buffy tried to free herself but it was fruitless. She could see the curiosity in Holtz's eyes.

"Demons do not have souls, girl. Is that what he has been telling you, that he has a soul?"

"Well, Angel has. There was a gypsy curse about a hundred years ago and now he has a soul", she explained, then her face hardened. "And you are not going to touch him", she added firmly.

Holtz lowered his sword and walked closer to Buffy, stopping good distance away from her. "I believe you are in no position to say anything about the matter", he stated and at that moment Buffy stepped into action. She stepped on the other demon's foot with her heel and as its grip loosened, she elbowed it to the stomach before striking hard to the face. With a swift move she pulled out the dagger, stabbing it into the other demon's chest before throwing it across the lobby, sinking it into a demon's head that was holding Angel captive. He attacked the other demon, quickly snapping its neck.

With the grace that should have been impossible to a woman nine months pregnant, she ran to the counter where Gunn had left the sword he had been using earlier in the day. For once she was glad he ignored her new rules that all weapons should be locked up or too high for anyone under three feet tall. Holtz raised his sword but before he could attack her, she pressed the tip of her sword to his throat. Now he was convinced she wasn't ordinary human.

Angel pulled the dagger from the demon's forehead and crossed the distance between him and his lover, he was worried and for a good reason. Holtz had littered the floor with bodies and now Buffy was against him. He tried to calm his blood lust that was growing from his concern for her and their baby. He placed a hand to Buffy's arm but she showed no signs of letting her arm down. He could smell the blood from the tiny wound she had pressed to Holtz's skin to remind him not to do anything stupid.

"Leave. Right now", Buffy said through gritted teeth, taking deep breaths to calm herself. "I don't kill people but if you don't leave now, I will make an exception to the rule", she added with an eerily calm voice. The man had threatened Angel and endangered their baby, it was something that didn't make a good impression on her. Holtz stared at her for a good while before taking a cautious step back and slowly he backed off from the hotel, keeping his eyes on the couple till he was out of the door.

xxx

Cordelia raised her eyes from the two men that were struggling to get the new tire in place. Something was not right with the scene. "Where's Buffy?" she asked and the men raised their heads from their task at hand.

"I don't know. She was here just a minute ago", Wesley answered confused and stood up straight, Gunn following. They all looked around them, there was no sign of anyone.

"Just great! How can a person loose a pregnant woman?!" Cordelia cried out throwing her hands in the air. She let out an irritated sigh and grabbed her purse from the backseat before hurrying down the street.

"I believe we should follow her", Wesley stated looking at the woman's retreating back. His head tilted to the side, he had never noticed how fast she was with those high heels.

"I think you're right", Gunn said pulling him out of his musings and ran after Cordelia. Wesley sobered and did the same.

Cordelia was the first one through the hotel doors and Gunn stepped in a beat later, colliding into her back. She turned to look at him and gave him one of her icy glares before descending down the steps. She directed her glare to Buffy who was still standing there with a sword loosely in her hand.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack!? You really shouldn't be running off like that! And what happened here? Cause all this blood is gonna be a bitch to clean up", she said loosing her wind towards the end. She looked around herself at the lobby, there were both human and demon bodies all around the room. Cordelia's tirade was ignored.

Angel turned to Buffy, touching her hand to get her attention. "We should go to Caritas to get the sanctuary spell", he stated and Buffy nodded her consent.

"Why is there a cage in the lobby?" Cordelia asked and only then did the couple notice the cage in the corner. Buffy swallowed hard and turned to look at Angel, she could see they were thinking the same thing.

"I think the Wolfram & Hart did this", Angel stated, a deep frown appearing to his face.

"They want the baby", Buffy added, soon she was wearing a similar frown.

"They were going to put the baby into the cage?" Cordelia asked incredulously.

"No. I think this was a capturing mission until Holtz showed up", Angel answered.

"Oh", she sighed in relief, then seemed to think of something. "Who's Holtz?"

"We don't have time to get into that now. We need to get that spell", Angel answered, he was unnerved with the whole situation. His past was catching up with him at the worst moment and he couldn't help but be scared for his family.

xxx

Few hours later the gang returned to the Hyperion finding the lobby with no sign of the dead mercenaries, there wasn't even blood stains on the floor. Wesley and Lorne prepared to do the spell as Cordelia inspected the floor.

"Maybe they're not all that evil cause I was sure this floor was ruined and I was going to be the one to clean it", she stated but the others just seemed to ignore her.

Buffy shifted on her feet and suppressed a yawn. She was tired, it had been a long day and her feet were killing her. Angel looked at her from the corner of his eye and turned to the others.

"I'm going to take Buffy to get some rest, you go ahead and start the spell", he said to them and started to guide Buffy up the stairs, she didn't even attempt to protest. Even though she hated that he thought she needed constant caring, she really was tired and knew he was too emotionally drained after the confrontation with a ghost from his past that he needed to make sure she and their baby were alright.

They went into their room and Angel closed the door behind them, only then letting go of her hand. Buffy sat down to the edge of the bed and reached out to him, taking his hand into hers before pulling him to sit next to her. He let out a weary sigh, he knew what was coming.

"So Holtz... He really has it in for you", she stated leaving the sentence hanging. When he didn't answer, just stared at their hands she continued, "He's human but those minions weren't, so he's a bad guy?" She frowned as she noticed the scowl on his face only deepening.

"Not exactly", he answered softly, then shook his head in disbelief. "He should be dead. I don't understand how he's here, he's still human", he continued, saying it more to himself than to her.

"You think he made an agreement with a demon or something?" she asked and he turned to look at her, she could see just how much it was affecting him. The agony in his eyes was heartbreaking.

"Yes. But I still don't understand. He detested demons, he hunted them. I just don't see him working with demons, it must have offered him something."

"Like your head on a silver platter?" she suggested, her own frown deepening. She didn't like the idea, they had enough enemies in the present. Angel nodded, his whole being darkening as he thought of the reason why Holtz would travel over two hundred years just to kill him. Buffy watched as Angel sunk deeper into the broodland as Cordelia called it and she had a bad feeling of the whole thing.

"It wasn't just a gambling bet, was it?"

Angel shook his head. "Not likely. Darla and I killed his family. He was a vampire hunter, followed us all over Europe, he was very persistent. So we went after what mattered him the most", he said swallowing harshly. Now more than ever he felt the weight of what he had done. He raised his eyes to hers and all he found was sympathy, she wasn't judging him even when he felt he deserved it.

"Darla and Angelus did that, not you", she stated softly, not pushing the subject.

"We didn't only kill his family, we turned his daughter. She was still a little child", he continued, the cruelty of the deed hitting him even more throughly. His eyes drifted to her pregnant stomach, her eyes following his and she could almost hear his thoughts. Without saying a word, she brought his hand to her stomach, covering it with both of her hands. The baby moved.

"I think Holtz is here now for a reason. There is too much good in my life and after all the evil I have done... it's a sign..." He didn't get to finish what he was saying. Buffy tried to slap him in the arm but was stopped by some kind of forcefield. Angel turned to look at her.

"I guess they got the spell working", she stated, then looked at him more firmly.

"And Holtz being here is not a sign! It's probably something Wolfram & Hart did to get you off your game. You deserve the happiness", she said sternly and pointedly covered his hand with hers, pressing it against her stomach. He looked down, his fingers spreading over the sign they were having a child.

"I still feel I don't deserve this after all the things I have done", he stated not taking his eyes off her stomach. She placed her fingers to his chin and turned him to look at her.

"The things Angelus did. You are not him. And what about all the good things you have done? Like say avert an apocalypse."

He wanted to remind her he had also tried to end it once but changed his mind not wanting her to think about the time she had to send him to Hell. He knew she still blamed herself for it and despite his efforts to convince her she did what she had to, she wouldn't let go of her conviction.

As he didn't say anything, even though she could see the wheels turning in his head, she decided to drop the subject. Angel would never let go of his guilt over the things Angelus had done but that didn't mean she wouldn't try to make it easier to live with it.

"This is getting a little too angsty and I'm tired. Could you just hold me?" she asked softly. He didn't say anything, just got on to the bed and pulled her into his arms. He pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head and they just laid there in silence with him gently stroking her arm.

.

To be continued...

* * *

**A****/N:** Some of the dialog is from Angel season 3 episode Lullaby written by Tim Minear. Well, not much of it but I thought I'd mention it anyway.


	27. Ready or not

**A/N:** Thank you to all readers and especially to those who have reviewed.

* * *

**Chapter 27: Ready or not**

Cordelia burst into Angel's office without even considering knocking. Angel raised his eyes from the book he had been reading and looked at the brunette with questioning eyes. "She's gone crazy. She finally cracked. The mommy has been running around the hotel all morning cleaning everything in sight", she announced melodramatically.

"I know. What do you want me to do about it? She kicked me out of the kitchen because I made crumbs", he answered looking at her helplessly.

"She's possessed. That's the answer. She's possessed!" Cordelia cried out like she had found the answer. She pointed at him triumphantly.

"By what?" Angel asked with a raised eyebrow, he thought she was exaggerating.

"Martha Stewart?" she suggested and all he did was stare at her, not even attempting to answer to it. Finally he got up from behind the desk, letting out a quiet sigh.

"I better go make sure she doesn't exhaust herself", he stated and walked past her.

"You're braver than I am", he heard Cordelia's voice muttering in the office. He walked to the kitchen door and gently knocked before stepping in.

"Don't mess with the floor", came Buffy's voice from somewhere in the kitchen. He looked around but didn't see her until he peeked over a tabletop and found her scrubbing the floor with a dust mask over her face.

"Buffy?" She didn't pay any attention to him. He circled around the worktop and crouched down next to her. "Buffy. Maybe you should try to get some rest, you're gonna exhaust yourself", he said and placed a gentle hand on her arm, stopping the movement. Finally she turned to look at him, he pulled down the dust mask from her face and smoothed her hair back.

"I need to get this done before the baby comes. Everything is so messy and dirty and... I'm out of time. Ow!" she explained and let out a whimper of pain, her hand going down to her stomach.

"What? Are you in pain?" Angel asked fear invading his whole being.

"You could say that but it's just a contraction. Ow!" She turned eyes to her stomach. "Hey! That really hurt!"

"Did they just start? We better get you upstairs and we need to call Maria. Can you walk?" He made a list in his head while wondering how any father survived the birth alive, if his heart had been beating it would have been beating out of his chest like in one of those cartoons.

"They've been coming for a while but... Ow! Not this strong", she answered and at that moment her water broke. Both of them turned to look at the floor. "My water just broke", she whispered, her voice barely audible.

"Oh God", Angel breathed out, his eyes darting back to her face.

"Auw!" she cried out as a powerful contraction shot through her.

"The bed. We need to get you to bed", he said almost to himself and started to guide her out of the room. As they were on their way up the stairs, another contraction hit her and he too almost cried out in pain as she squeezed his hand, almost crushing it.

Cordelia ran in from the yard after hearing the scream of pain. "What's going on?" she asked, worry clear in her voice.

"It's happening, the baby is coming", Angel said and Cordelia's eyes widened.

"The baby? Now?!"

"Yes, now. Help me to get her to bed", Angel answered and without arguing Cordelia hurried to them.

They got Buffy to the bedroom and Angel helped her to the bed, piling the pillows behind her back. He sat to the edge of the bed and took her hand to his, cupping her cheek with his other. She turned her eyes to his.

"I need to call Maria", he said, looking into her eyes and she nodded. He got up from the bed, loosing the confidence at the same time. Nervously he ran a hand through his hair. "I have to call Maria and... I... I..." he turned his eyes to Cordelia. "Cordelia, stay with her and don't let her break your hand", he said and turned back to Buffy, not paying any attention to the high-pitched 'What' coming from Cordelia. "I'll be right back", he said to her and quickly left the room.

As soon as he was out of sight, Buffy's confidence fled the room and she felt like hyperventilating. "Oh God. The baby is coming. I can't do this. I'm not ready yet. I refuse to give birth right now", she said trying to get out of the bed.

"Hey. You have no choice. You so don't want a teenager living in there", Cordelia said sternly and Angel chose that moment to return, immediately calming Buffy.

"That was quick", Cordelia stated. Angel rushed past her to Buffy, he sat next to her and took her hand to his.

"Maria is on her way. How are you feeling?"

"I'm..." Buffy started to say but then another contraction hit her, she let out a painful cry. "You were such a good baby, why are you doing this to me now?!" she yelled to her stomach.

"Maybe I should go keep look out for the midwife", Cordelia said and signed at the door. Angel nodded his consent and she stepped out of the room, letting out a shrilling scream when suddenly a woman appeared in front of her.

"Do not be afraid, child, I am the midwife", Maria said and gave the brunette a warm smile.

"Yeah, nice to meet you. The mother's in there", Cordelia said, keeping her hand still on her heart as she tried to steady her breathing.

"Thank you", Maria said and stepped into the bedroom. Angel had moved behind Buffy on the bed and was smoothing her hair back.

"Just breathe. Maria's here. Everything is going to be alright", he said to her with a soft, calming voice.

"Aagh!" Buffy cried out, she was discovering whole new level of pain. "I hate you! You weren't supposed to be able to have children!" she yelled accusingly to him. Angel turned his panicking eyes to Maria, he was in agony just from seeing Buffy in so much pain and it didn't help that he was the cause of it.

"Maybe she should be taken to a hospital", he suggested and bit his lip to stay quiet as she grabbed his hand with a firm grip.

"No hospitals", Buffy said through gritted teeth, she'd endure any kind of pain as long as she didn't have to go to a hospital.

"There is no need. She is advancing well and quickly. Back in my day, all births were handled at home, hospitals were for sick people", Maria stated.

"Yeah, and when I was still alive fathers didn't participate, they were drinking themselves into oblivion and now I know why. But that still doesn't change the fact that she's in great pain", Angel answered.

"I don't care about the pain", Buffy said through gritted teeth and let out a scream as another contraction hit.

The cry of pain could be heard all the way to the office where Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn were waiting nervously. "Okay, now I'm positive I'm never gonna have children", Cordelia stated with a frown. Buffy was the slayer and could take more pain than anyone she knew but still she could hear the agony in her voice.

"My respect for women just doubled", Gunn stated.

"As for me as well", Wesley agreed.

xxx

The gang was waiting in the lobby, all three turned to look upstairs when they heard another cry of pain. Wesley stopped his pacing and went straight to the cabinet where the bottle of whiskey was kept. "Anyone else want any?" he asked, raising the bottle.

"No thanks", came from both Cordelia and Gunn. Wesley poured his glass full and took a hefty gulp from it. He continued pacing with the glass in hand, he had a urge to clean his glasses but he opted into taking another drink.

"Would you stop it?! You'd think you're the father from all the pacing and drinking!" Cordelia snapped, she was nervous and Wesley was not making her feel any better. He stopped and turned to look at the brunette.

"Don't be absurd, Cordelia", he chastised, she just rolled her eyes before turning her full attention to him, staring at him with scrutiny.

"You're worried about something. What is it?"

"Buffy is delivering a baby nearly two weeks early, of course I am concerned", Wesley tried but couldn't fool Cordelia, she wasn't convinced.

"No. This is something else", she stated, staring at him with demanding eyes. Then it hit her. "Has it something to do with the papers you've been working on day and night? Is Buffy 'the mother'? And the mother will what? Wesley?!" She neared Wesley menacingly, pointing accusing finger at him.

_God, that woman is worse than a terrier_, Wesley thought to himself, taking a step back.

"What are you talking about?" Gunn asked confused, he had been lost at the mother part.

"Cordelia, there is not..." Wesley started to say but didn't get to finish.

"Shut up", Cordelia commanded and turned her eyes back to the second floor, the two men followed her gaze. "Do you hear anything? I don't hear anything? Why don't I hear anything?" she questioned, her frown deepening. She was first to start climbing the stairs.

When they reached the hallway, all stopped to listen carefully. Then there was a cry echoing through the hotel but it was different from the ones before. "It's a baby", Wesley stated in awe.

A moment later the three burst into the bedroom finding Buffy laying on the bed spent and drenched with sweat. Angel was sitting next to her with a proud smile on his face and a small baby wrapped in a soft yellow towel in his arms.

Cordelia was the first one to speak. "Is it a girl?"

"Sorry, Cordy, it's a boy", Buffy answered and smiled, her voice was happy but exhausted. Cordelia frowned but neared the bed, peaking at the little bundle in Angel's arms.

"Aww", she sighed as the baby opened his eyes and looked at her.

"You have a boy", Wesley sighed, relief evident on his voice as well as his face.

"No twins, thankfully", Buffy said and carefully took the baby from Angel, placing him against her chest.

"Did we miss anything?" came Willow's voice from the doorway. Everyone turned to look as the five people tried to squeeze through the door at once. After Angel had called the midwife, Wesley had called to Giles and in less than fifteen minutes Giles, Willow, Xander, Faith and Tara were on their way to LA, Anya stayed behind stating that babies were born everyday but her money would go to another store, it was fruitless to remind her that Giles owned the Magic Shop.

"Everybody out of the way, that baby is mine!" Xander yelled and rushed inside the room. All eyes turned to him.

"You're so lucky Anya didn't come along and hear that", Willow stated with a grin and walked past him. Xander tried to get closer to the bed but Cordelia pushed him aside and blocked his path.

"Out of my way, Donut Boy", she ordered. "Auntie Cordy wants to hold the little one", she added more softly and looked at the now sleeping baby in Buffy's arms.

"Sorry but nobody gets to hold him till he wakes up", Buffy answered and she could have sworn Cordelia was pouting. Xander smiled at the brunette's discomfort and stepped past her closer to the bed. He looked at the baby with awe, like he was from another world.

"Wow, he really has Dead Boy's huge forehead", he joked and Buffy frowned, turning her gaze to the sleeping baby and defensively covered his head with her hand. "It's a good thing he's a boy since he's been dipping into daddy's gene-pool. Have you decided on the name yet since I really hope you're not gonna call him Celia?" Xander continued and Buffy sent a chastising look at his way.

"We're gonna name him Connor", she answered and shared a soft smile with Angel. "And enough with the forehead jokes, I was the one that had to give birth to him so it's a serious matter. Besides, he is perfect", she added and turned her eyes to the baby, gazing at him lovingly. He opened his eyes lazily and seemed to be staring at her. She had read somewhere that newborn babies couldn't focus on anything but still it looked like he was looking right at her.

"Okay, he's awake. Now gimme!" Cordelia said and held out her arms.

"Move over, Barbie, the kid is mine. I'm practically family", Faith said and stepped in front of the taller brunette. Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes, she knew where this was headed.

"Nobody is going to hold him if you don't learn to behave and I bet he's hungry, so everybody out", she said.

"Why do we have to leave just because he's hungry?" Xander asked confused and a little hurt that she was kicking him out.

"Because she's going to breastfeed, doofus", Cordelia answered and Xander blushed, he hadn't even considered that possibility.

"And no one gets to see the goodies except Angel", Faith added and gave the vampire a wink.

Giles looked towards the heavens, the children were impossible. He neared the bed, looking at the mother and child and as she turned her gaze to him, he offered her a gentle smile. "Congratulations, Buffy. And you, Angel as well. You have a beautiful baby", he said and Buffy gave him a teary smile.

"Thank you, Giles", she said, her voice coming out as a whisper.

"But now we better give you some privacy. We'll be downstairs in case you need anything", he said and the large group left the room, leaving the new parents alone with the baby and the midwife.

Angel brushed Buffy's hair from her face and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "Thank you", he whispered next to her ear.

"He's beautiful, isn't he? But I'm gonna be sleeping with a stake under my pillow cause there is no way I'm going through that pain again", she threatened and he let out a soft chuckle, he doubted **he** could go through that again either. Buffy unbuttoned her blouse and offered the baby a nipple which he took with no hesitation, suckling greedily.

"Once he has eaten I'll give him a proper bath and leave you alone", Maria said softly and Buffy nodded. When Connor had been born, Maria had wiped him clean before wrapping him into a clean towel and handed him to the parents so he hadn't had the first bath yet. Buffy wanted to be part of it but she was too exhausted to move, once again she was thankful she was a slayer, she had a feeling the labor would have been longer otherwise.

xxx

"Would you like a drink? You have just been promoted from a surrogate father into a grandfather, so I believe a celebration drink would be somewhat necessarily", Wesley suggested as they stepped into the office.

Giles nodded with a weary smile, it was true, he did feel like a grandfather to the child upstairs. Then he wondered if Hank Summers even knew Buffy had been expecting a child, his next thought was Joyce and what a pity it was that she couldn't join them to witness the birth. But he also understood that she couldn't just leave her work in the middle of the day, he didn't find an excuse for Hank's behavior.

"Yes, I believe a drink would be nice. Xander was driving like a madman all the way here and I think I am still a little high-strung over it", he answered to Wesley's question. Wesley took a whiskey bottle from the bottom drawer and poured it into two glasses, handing the other to Giles. "Thank you", the older watcher said and took a sip from the glass.

"I believe we can breathe more easily now. As you saw, there is only one child, no twins like the prophecy said", Wesley stated and leaned against the edge of the desk, he was more relaxed than he had been in months.

"Yes, I certainly hope so. Buffy has no twins, no sister and Angel's soul has been bound. But there is the frightening fact that what we've seen and translated is only a part of the prophecy. But I do believe we can worry a little less now", Giles said and let out a sigh of relief before taking another sip of the whiskey.

.

To be continued...


	28. The First 24 Hours

**A/N:** Thank you for the reviews and being patient with me, I know it's been a long time since I updated this story. This is a LONG chapter so I hope you can forgive me

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 28: The First 24 hours**

"Yes, Anya, it's a cute baby", Xander said to the phone with a tired voice. Then his lips turned into a humorous smile. "No, Anya, it's not as cute as ours will be", he placated his girlfriend. Everyone's eyes turned to him. He looked around himself somewhat self-consciously and quickly added: "When that day comes. Someday. In the distant future."

Giles sighed in relief and removed his glasses, starting to clean them. It was a strange thought to think that the children were all grown up, having adult relationships, jobs, college and having children. Suddenly he felt old but inwardly let out a sigh of relief that at least he wasn't the oldest one in the mixed group. His eyes turned to the stairway as Angel walked down them, there was a unusual bounce in the vampire's step.

"How is the mother? And the child?" he asked crossing the distance between himself and the new father.

"Tired", Angel answered with a smile. "They've been sleeping for couple hours but I think they're starting to wake up. I'm going to fix Buffy something to eat."

"Let me help you", Giles offered and followed the vampire to the kitchen. He glanced at the cleaning supplies on the floor but didn't say anything. "Uhm... I have something to give you", he stated and Angel turned to look at him. Quickly Giles fetched his briefcase and pulled two items from it, a bottle of whiskey and a Cuban cigar. Angel raised an questioning eyebrow. "It's twelve years old", Giles explained and set the bottle to the tabletop. "It's not like I encourage you to drink it all and smoke the cigar, which is Cuban by the way, but they are appropriate tools for celebration."

"I think Buffy and Cordelia might have something to say to that", Angel answered with a smirk and Giles nodded in agreement, smiling wryly.

"Yes, I do believe the girls would have their say about the male rituals."

Angel chuckled and grabbed the bottle, turning it in his hand. "The truth is, I would have needed this when Buffy was in labor. Back in my day men weren't allowed to be there when their children were born so I would have been drunk out of my mind. Even now I wouldn't have minded a drink", he stated and gently put it back to the table.

"Somehow I don't think it would have made the situation any easier", Giles said.

"Yes, I doubt it would have. But seeing her in so much pain was just killing me."

Angel turned his back to Giles and continued making the sandwiches, signaling that the discussion had ended. He wanted to be finished as quickly as possible, it had been nearly impossible for him to leave Buffy and his son sleeping upstairs. With swift movements he finished making the food and gathered the sandwiches and drinks to a tray. "I should get back before they wake up", he stated and Giles nodded, stepping aside.

"I understand. Perhaps I'll have a chat with her once she's eaten and well rested."

"Yeah, sure", Angel answered absentmindedly and hurried out of the room only to be stopped by Cordelia.

"Okay, you've been keeping us out from seeing the baby with the excuse that he and Buffy are asleep but I want to see him before the slutty slayer gets to!" Cordelia said not being able to keep the jealousy out of her voice. Angel just raised a questioning eyebrow. "What?" she asked with a irritated sigh, placing her hands to her hips.

"Nothing. But Buffy and Connor are both still asleep", Angel stated and Cordelia's eyes drew to the tray in his hands.

"So you've decided to try solids."

"This is for Buffy once she wakes up", he stated and tried to step past her but she refused to let him go. "Excuse me", he said and quickly walked around the woman. Cordelia let out a huff and stormed into the kitchen. There was no way Faith was going to hold the little bundle before she did.

Angel hurried back to the bedroom and a small smile rose to his lips as he found Buffy and the baby still sleeping peacefully. Gently without making any noise he set the tray to the night table and sat to the chair next to it, settling into watching his family sleep. Watching Buffy sleep was one of his guilty pleasures and now he had a son to watch over as well. A son, he still couldn't believe it. His eyes traced the chubby features of his child and a warm smile rose to his lips, he truly was a miracle.

"How long are you going to stare at him? He's not going to disappear you know", Buffy said and Angel's eyes shot to her face.

"I just want to make sure this is real", he answered and got up from the chair, shifting to lay on the bed with Connor between him and Buffy. His fingers hovered over his face but he didn't dare to touch the sleeping baby in fear of waking him.

"He's real. This is real", she said softly. Again his eyes raised to hers. A crooked smile rose to her lips. "I can tell you it's real because I was the one who had to push him out and let me tell you pal, you're lucky we have to settle for one", she said with fake seriousness and he gave her a small half smile, his hand raising to brush her hair back.

"You're a brave girl, love", he said and gently kissed her lips.

"Don't I know it", she muttered and grabbed the back of his head, bringing his lips into another kiss. As she broke the kiss, her eyes landed on the tray that held the food. "Have I told you just how much I love you?" she questioned with a happy smile.

"I think you have already shown it", he answered and looked down to Connor who was still sleeping peacefully.

"He's beautiful, isn't he", she said, it wasn't really a question. "I bet he's gonna look like you, see, he's already got a tuft of dark hair."

"I hope it's more easily controlled than mine", he stated, looking at his son, he really did have a small patch of dark hair on the top of his head. She let out a soft laugh and ruffled his gel held hair.

xxx

Giles tapped gently to the door in case Buffy and the baby were still asleep. He was quite certain he had heard voices coming from the room but he still didn't want to take any chances.

"You can come in, Giles", Angel said and Giles stepped inside. Angel turned to look at Buffy, smoothing her hair back before he got up from the side of the bed. "I'll leave you two alone", he said and left the room, quietly shutting the door behind him.

"How are you feeling?" Giles asked as he neared the bed.

"I'm good, a little tired but good. We took a little nap and had dinner", she answered with a soft smile and looked at the baby that was lying next to her, his eyes wide open and alert. Giles sat to the edge of the bed and took a closer look at the newborn before turning his gaze back to the mother.

"Are you happy?" he asked and Buffy turned to look at him, a little surprised by the question.

"Yeah, I'm happy. I never thought this day would come, that Angel and I would have a baby together. Of course I wasn't very happy with him when I was giving birth to him but no amount of pain will ever make me want to change anything", she answered and he nodded in understanding. "Do you wanna hold him?"

He looked at her uncertainly. "Uhm... I... I don't know. It's been quite a while since I've held a baby", he answered stammering.

"You'll be okay, just support the head and don't drop him. If I can do it, you can do it", she said and gently picked up Connor from the bed and carefully placed him to Giles' arms.

"Hello there, Giles said to the little boy in his arms and Connor stared at him like he had just stuck his tongue out. His lips parted and he let out a small noise before grabbing Giles' finger into a tight grip. Buffy couldn't stop a smile from rising to her lips as she watched the two interact.

"Giles?" she asked after a while. He turned to look at her, Connor was still holding his finger in his tiny fist.

"Yes?"

"Angel and I were thinking... Uhm... Since Connor is a boy, and we hadn't decided on the second name yet and since you're more a father to me than my biological father is... I actually have a point with this", she said with a embarrassed chuckle and he smiled. "So we wanted to ask you if it's okay with you if we name him after you. Connor Giles Summers."

Giles stared at her thoroughly moved, he had an urge to clean his glasses to keep himself from tearing up. "I'd be honored", he answered with a gentle smile on his lips. "Are you certain? Giles is not the most modern of names."

"Yeah, I'm sure. Angel and I talked about it and we agreed on Connor that he liked and Giles after you", Buffy assured him.

"Uhm... Does – does your father know? That you have a - a child?" Giles asked carefully. The sad look that formed to her face was the answer to his question before she even said anything.

"No. He's always too busy to talk to his daughter or I get the voice mail, it wasn't something I wanted to tell him though a answering machine so he doesn't even know I was pregnant."

"I'm sorry, Buffy", he said and she gave him a small smile.

"It's okay, I'm used to it by now", she said with a shrug, trying to act like it didn't affect her.

There was a fast knock on the door and only a beat later Faith walked in. Quickly Buffy blinked the moisture out of her eyes. "Sorry to interrupt the father-daughter moment but I'm thinking of hitting the streets and I want to hold junior before I dish out some quality violence to the baddies", she said and made a straight line to the bed.

"Yes, well, I agree it might be wise for you to patrol. I'll just go now", Giles said and gave Connor back to Buffy before getting up from the bed, Faith taking the spot. Buffy watched as Giles left the room while Faith leaned closer to get a better look of the baby in her arms.

"He really is his father's son, just look at that big head", she said with a smirk. Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Enough with the forehead jokes", she ordered with a small smile, smoothing her hand over the baby's head.

"Okay. Now gimme the babe", Faith ordered. Buffy raised a questioning eyebrow.

"And this would not have anything to do with the rivalry with Cordelia of who gets to hold the baby first? I'm sorry to tell you but Giles beat you to it."

"That's okay, as long as I get to before the cheerleader", Faith answered with a shrug and Buffy rolled her eyes, still not giving up her baby.

"Are your hands clean?" she asked looking at the brunette suspiciously.

"No, I just gave Spike a hand job before coming here", Faith answered with sarcasm lacing her voice but after seeing the glare Buffy was giving her, she sighed. "They're clean, I had to wash them three times and Angel even sniffed them, that was the only way I could get into this room", she answered truthfully and reached out her hands. "Now gimme!"

Buffy rolled her eyes again but carefully placed Connor to Faith's arms, holding her own hand supporting his head not willing to loose contact with her child. "Support the head", she instructed and this time it was Faith's turn to roll her eyes.

"Yeah, I got it, I got it", she said and slipped her hand under Buffy's, cradling the baby's head. Hesitantly Buffy drew her hand away but still kept her eyes on Connor. He started to fuss and quickly she reached out to him. His hand grabbed her finger into a tight hold and immediately he calmed down.

"He's a cutie", Faith stated, watching the baby who starting to nod off.

"He is, he's just perfect", Buffy agreed. "I never thought this would happen, that I could actually have a family and for a long time it looked like I couldn't even be with Angel", she added quietly.

"And you got your happy ending."

Buffy turned her eyes to Faith. "I better not say anything to that so I don't jinx it", she answered warily, then her eyes fell to Faith's neck and only then she noticed the fading scar. It was vampire's bite.

"What?" Faith asked feeling self-conscious from the amount of staring.

"Your neck. Uhm... Has he ever... uhm..." Buffy tried to get the words out but it felt practically impossible.

"Bite me?" Faith asked with a raised eyebrow, clearly amused by Buffy's struggle. She knew this was about Buffy asking if she had let Spike bite her. "No. I know it's a big rush and all that but I don't trust him enough with my neck. Chip or no chip, he's still a vampire."

Buffy let out a breath she didn't even know she had been holding. "Oh, good", she sighed in relief, she was still weirded out by Faith having a thing with Spike but at least she was being sensible.

xxx

Lorne stepped through the main door, he was wearing a bright pastel suit and that was the first thing that caught Xander's eye. "Hello everyone", he greeted airily.

"A demon! Demon in the house!" Xander yelled as loud as he could and dashed across the lobby to the weapon's cabinet. He tried to yank the doors open but they didn't budge. He groaned as he saw the lock but immediately started looking for a key. Who in their right mind would lock away the weapons? He froze as he saw the demon standing next to him, the bright suit was like a beacon.

"Simmer down, friend. If I came with evil intentions I would have gone all grr-argg already", Lorne assured him but he just stared at him like he had been speaking in Hebrew, the fear was gone and been replaced by confusion.

"Lorne! What are you doing here?" Cordelia asked loudly and crossed the lobby. She had been alerted by Xander's yelling and armed with pepper spray she had come to look what he was screaming about.

"Cordelia, my dear, polite as ever. I came to see the bundle, of course. Why didn't anyone bother to tell me he's been born already?" Lorne answered almost accusingly.

"He was just born and no one really thought about calling you when Buffy was screaming her head off and threatening Angel. And how did you know he was born?" Cordelia placed her hands on her hips, impatiently tapping a finger against her side.

"I heard some clients talk about it, they have their sources and they are up to no good, I might add. But we can talk about it later, now I want to see the little one, where is he?"

"You can't, Angel says they're sleeping. Yeah right, he just wants to hog them for himself", she answered with a huff of irritation. The baby was hours old and she hadn't even held him once. If this continued Faith would get to held him before she did.

"Well, I'll go see Wesley then, get the doom and gloom over with", Lorne said and left the room in search of the former watcher.

"Your new boyfriend?" Xander asked from behind her. She turned around, sending an evil glare at his way.

"Shouldn't your money-hungry girlfriend be here to keep an eye on you so you don't start making out with Willow", she shot back.

"That was years ago! Can't you just get over it!" Xander cried out. "Besides, Willow's a lesbian."

"Oh puh-lease", Cordelia snorted. "Willow is so not a lesbian. She was in love with Oz, they did the deed, she did wacky spells because she was so messed up after he dumbed her. I don't care how much she now loves Tara, she still loved Oz enough to make Buffy and Spike suck face", Cordelia stated.

Xander folded his arms and glared at his ex-girlfriend. "You haven't been part of our lives for years now so I don't think you have any authority to say anything that involves me or Willow."

"I don't care. I'm just stating a fact of you losers", Cordelia said dismissively and turned around, heading to the office. Xander followed her, slamming the door closed behind them.

"You make me so furious! You're always shouting out your opinions, flipping your hair back and taking shots at me. But I've had enough! I just can't take it anymore!"

"What does my hair have to do with this, you dimwit?" Cordelia questioned, narrowing her eyes and flipping her long hair over her shoulder with her hand before placing it to her hip.

"Like that! Some day I'm just gonna... gonna..." Xander said getting angry.

"Gonna what? You don't got the cojonies to do anything, you're just a loser with superhero friends", Cordelia said staring him down, she too was ready to snap.

"You drive me crazy, woman! Grrr-Aargh!" Xander growled and for a moment it looked like he was ready to strike her, they were both staring at each other in fury and suddenly he grabbed her face, kissing her hard. Without even thinking, she responded into the kiss with just as much suppressed anger, a moan escaping her lips. Her hand made its way to his hair, balling into a fist as he backed her against the desk. Papers and other items fell to the floor but neither noticed.

She was already laid against the surface when they both seemed to realize what they were doing. Xander stopped kissing her, pulling back to look at her. They were both panting hard. Her eyes widened and she slapped his chest, kicking him off of her. "God! What's wrong with you!?" she yelled accusingly and stood up from the desk, smoothing her clothes.

"What's wrong with me?!" Xander cried out.

"Haven't you done enough damage! What more do you want from me, punch another hole into my side?! I could buy stock on Maybelline with the amount of make up that scar takes to cover!"

"You kissed me right back! So I think we're both guilty here", Xander said back, glaring at her right back.

"I must have been temporarily insane. I'm so not going though that again and what is it with you that you always want to sabotage your relationships?!" She didn't wait for respond before she fled the office, grabbing her purse on the way to the bathroom. What had just happened? She couldn't believe she had just kissed Xander, she could stand him now even less than before they dated in high school. She needed to fix her make up and just pretend it never happened.

Xander nervously ran a hand through her hair, he couldn't wrap his mind around what had just happened. One moment she wanted to bitch-slap Cordelia and the next he was kissing her. Why had he done it? Was Cordelia right and he intentionally sabotaged every relationship he was in? But he loved Anya. He actually *loved* Anya and not because of the sex, so why had he just kissed Cordelia.

He shook his head and again ran his fingers through his hair while wiping the lipstick off his lips with the other. It had been just a small slip, he decided, it would never happen again and Anya didn't need to know, nobody needed to know because it never happened. With that thought he left the office.

xxx

Giles had returned to Buffy's and Angel's room to give Faith some instructions before her patrol. He had few news papers with him, the headlines had peaked his interest and he suspected they might be done by demons. "I do not know Los Angeles very well and I assume you do not either so I suggest you should take a map with you", Giles said placing the papers to a table.

"And look like a freaking tourist! No way!" Faith protested.

Giles let out a tired sigh and took off his glasses before starting to rub the bridge of his nose. "Faith", he started but didn't finish when the door opened and Angel walked in with someone following him. Giles jumped as he realized it was a demon, although the clothes looked more frightening than the gently smiling demon that made a beeline to Buffy.

"So here's the bundle of joy", he said, not taking his eyes off of the baby as he sat down to the edge of the bed and started to tickle Connor's stomach. After a while his eyes turned to Giles who had been staring at him the whole time. "Oh my, where are my manners. I am Lorne", he said and reached out his hand to Giles.

"Uhm... Giles... Rupert Giles", Giles stammered and shook the green skinned hand. "You are of peaceful breed, I assume", Giles said looking at the green demon, he didn't look very frightening, only his clothes did. He was suspecting they were radioactive.

"Yeah, Lorne's a analogic demon", Buffy answered and Giles turned to look at her, puzzled.

"Analogic?"

Lorne smiled gently and patted the back of Buffy's hand. "Sweetie, you can drop the act, I'm not buying it and the dumb blond act isn't convincing your honey either. You don't need to drop yourself down to make you seem less than you are so people won't expect too much. Remember, I'm the anagogic demon, the one who knows about your inner stirrings, you can pretend to forget every demon name but it doesn't make any difference", he said looking straight into her eyes. Then his eyes turned to Giles, raking over his body. "And I'd love to hear 007 here sing", he added, making Giles remove his glasses and start to polish them.

"Uhm... Maybe – maybe some other time", he stammered and put the glasses back on.

"I have some unfortunate news that might put a little damper on your happy day. I heard a group of demons talking about the little bundle here and their plans didn't sound very good. And I doubt they are the only ones after him", Lorne said turning more serious. Buffy's eyes snapped to Angel's and a moment later down to the baby in her arms.

"They want Connor?"

"Yes, it seems the word has got out that a slayer and a vampire had a babe, something as unusual as that is bound to bring out the baddies", Lorne answered, looking at the mother with sympathetic eyes, he could feel the emotion rolling off of her and the vampire behind him.

"Maybe it's better that you don't patrol tonight, Faith. It appears we might need you here", Giles said and Faith nodded, she didn't say anything because there was nothing to say in a situation like this. She just hoped she hadn't just jinxed it with her 'happy ending'-talk.

"Giles, could you get Willow and Tara?" Buffy requested, turning to Giles. He gave her an 'Of course' and left the room.

Lorne looked around the room, his face turning into a frown. "What's that humming? It's giving me a headache", he complained. He rubbed his forehead and again looked around the room, his eyes running over the walls. "Could I have some paper and a pen, sweetie? I need to write this thought down before I loose it", he asked and Buffy took a notepad from the drawer of the nightstand and handed it to him with a pen. "Thanks, honey."

Lorne quickly scripted something to the paper, then turned it around, showing it to Buffy. "Is that how you write it? This humming is making my head a little full", he asked and Buffy's eyes snapped to his as she saw what was written on the paper.

"Yeah, that's how you write it", she answered turning her eyes to Angel who crossed the distance and sat next to her. His eyes quickly scanned the paper, then turned to Buffy. To Lorne it looked like they were having a conversation without words and he was still amazed by the connection the two shared.

The door opened and Giles walked in with the two wiccans following. "Hey", Willow greeted brightly, then her eyes landed on Connor. "Aww. He's so cute", she cooed and made a straight line to the baby.

"You wanna hold him?" Buffy asked and Willow's face lit up like a christmas tree.

"Could I?" she asked hopefully but then a deep frown formed to her face. "But what if I can't hold him right? What if he doesn't like me? What if I drop him?!" she question nearly hyperventilating. Tara placed a calming hand to her shoulder.

"Willow, breathe", Buffy reminded her.

"Okay, breathe, breathing's good", Willow said and hesitantly sat down to the edge of the bed. "Okay, clean hands, support the head, don't drop him", she said to herself but stopped as she noticed everyone staring at her. "Just reminding myself of the basics", she explained.

"I think that pretty much covered it", Buffy stated and carefully placed Connor to Willow's arms, still keeping her own hand under his head. When she tried to take her hand away, the baby started to fuss, making Willow even more nervous than she was. "I think he's tired", Buffy stated looking at her son who was stretching his arms and legs, throwing them about.

"He does seem a little cranky", Willow agreed and looked around the room for help.

Angel stepped in and took his son from Willow's arms, rocking him in his arms so he would calm down. After a while Connor was sleeping against Angel's chest, looking like the picture of innocence. Buffy smiled at Angel, the scene in front of her was just perfect. But she needed to come back to the hard reality.

"We should go straight to business. This conversation shouldn't go out of this room", Buffy said pointedly and Willow nodded, understanding her meaning. She said few words under her breath and a pulse appeared to go through the room. "Okay..." Buffy started but no sound left her. She turned her surprised eyes to Willow who sheepishly looked back at her.

'Sorry', she mouthed and again said something under her breath, no sound leaving her but another pulse went through the room, looking like walls set around the room. "Sorry, I mispronounced a word, some spells are really tricky that way", she said looking at the floor.

"Lorne heard video signals, so now nothing leaves this room?" Buffy asked ignoring the small blunder.

"Yeah, you can't even hear us through the door", Willow answered.

"Wolfram & Hart has probably bugged this whole place, what is it with people that they don't respect privacy", Buffy said getting rightfully angry as she thought about it, hadn't it been enough that Riley had bugged the place but now there were video cameras.

"I should probably tell you now that the spell that went wrong, it probably broke every radio, tv and telephone in this building. Sorry", Willow said apologetically, then added more cheerfully, "But it also broke the spy cameras". Buffy decided to say nothing to that, they had more important things to think about than a broken TV.

xxx

Buffy and Angel explained the situation, that demons were after Connor and they probably weren't the only ones. Giles left in search of Wesley so they could hit the books and Faith just went to get the weapons ready.

Buffy turned to Willow. "Willow, can you do the de-invitation spell like you did with Riley in Sunnydale?" Buffy asked and quickly glanced at Angel, his whole being had darkened from the mention of her ex. He barely suppressed a growl.

"You want to ban Riley from the hotel? But I thought he just went poof", Willow questioned slightly confused. Buffy smiled at her.

"Yeah, he went all poof and we think the Wolfram & Hart took him and it probably is a good idea to do the spell for him too and I'm so straying from the point", she rambled, kicking herself for not going straight to the point already. Angel smiled and took her hand into his, placing a soft kiss to her knuckles. He loved it when she rambled. "Can you do the spell for a certain group of people, like who ever works for Wolfram & Hart can't walk in through the door or something?" she finally got the question out and nervously waited for Willow's answer, she looked like she was considering it very carefully.

"Yeah, I think it's possible but why do you want to do it, I thought you had the sanctuary spell in here?"

"Yeah, we do. But we figured it might be more harm than use since if someone, say Wolfram & Hart comes and just takes Connor, there is nothing we can do to stop them until we're out of the hotel", Buffy answered and Willow nodded in understanding, realizing the spell really was a double-edged sword.

"That really puts a damper on it, doesn't it", she agreed. "I think Tara and I should take the sanctuary spell down and then create a protective field around the hotel so the demons can't come in", she suggested and looked at the clock.

"The sun is going to set soon and that's when they'll come", Angel stated, he didn't need to look at the clock because he could feel the sunset closing in.

"Oh, we better get cracking then", Willow said and turned to look at Tara. She couldn't hide the excitement she felt on doing the spells and aside from that she was feeling useful again.

After Willow and Tara had left the room, Buffy got up from the chair she had been sitting in and walked to the window. She pulled the other curtain to the side and made a small crack to the blinds, she could see the last rays of sun disappearing. With a sigh she pulled the curtain back to the window and turned to look at Angel, he was wearing a similar worried expression on his face.

"This is exactly what I was always afraid of if I'd ever have children. Connor is less than a day old and already there are demons and evil lawyers after him", Buffy said with a soft voice. Had she been selfish to want Connor? His life would be as dangerous as hers was.

Angel crossed the distance and pulled her into his embrace. "We're going to keep him safe, no matter how many demons come after him I'm not going to let anything happen to him. Or you", he assured her. She looked up to him with a sad smile on her lips, she knew he meant it.

"I love you, I just want you to know that", she said softly, her eyes memorizing every feature of his face.

"And I love you, nothing is ever going to change that", he answered and framed her face with his large hands before leaning into a kiss. The kiss grew more passionate. But finally he had to pull back to let her breathe.

They both could feel a change in the air. They shared a look before going to the window and pulling up the blinds. There were a handful of demons circling the yard, it appeared they were trying to find a way to the door since the protective field was stopping their progress. "It's started", Buffy stated, her voice belonging to the slayer.

xxx

Buffy walked to the window and looked outside, her frown deepened as she saw the vampires and demons waiting for a chance to get in to the hotel. There were more of them than there had been an hour ago. Angel stepped behind her, wrapping his arms around her. "The vampires can't come in without invitation. This is your home", he reminded her with a reassuring tone.

"I know. But the demons can", she answered not taking her eyes off the group on the street.

"Not if Willow keeps up the protective forcefield."

"She can't keep it up forever", Buffy stated and Angel chuckled. He turned her around to face him, he was still wearing an amused half smiled.

"When did you become such a pessimist?"

"Just stating the facts. I think we should take the fight to them instead waiting for Willow to tire and them to come to us. We've got two slayers, a vampire and a rogue demon hunter", Buffy's lips turned into a wry smile as did Angel's from remembering Wesley's rogue demon hunter phase, "and a vampire hunter, I think we can hold our own against vampires and a bunch of demons", she stated.

"I know we can. And I was thinking the same, we can't just wait for them to go away", he answered and brushed a soft kiss to her forehead. There was a loud crash, like glass breaking. Immediately Connor started to cry and Buffy hurried to him. As she took the baby into her arms, she looked at Angel and like they had just agreed on something, they both headed to the door.

Everybody jumped from the sound of breaking glass. "What was that?" Cordelia asked, getting up from the chair and looking around herself.

"A glass broke somewhere", Xander answered and walked out of the room.

"I heard that, genius, but where and who broke it?" Cordelia snapped and followed him to the lobby.

"You're soft as a marshmallow these days, aren't you, Cordy", he said with sarcasm dripping from his voice. Gunn rolled his eyes, quickly putting some distance between himself and the couple.

"Look, Harris, this is my town, you might be the man to go to when someone wants donuts in Sunnydale but..." Cordelia said jutting her finger at the man but she didn't get to finish when Giles stepped in.

"Children, please. Can't you behave yourselves even for one moment?" he chastised the two and went to where the chattered glass littered the floor. Gunn and Faith were already there with weapons in hand.

"He started it", Cordelia muttered and Xander's eyes shot to the brunette.

"I did not!" he cried out. Giles cleared his throat and sent a disapproving glare to the couple.

"Alright, alright, we're behaving", Cordelia sighed with her arms raised in surrender. "As long as he keeps his face out of my sight", she muttered to herself as she put some distance between herself and her ex-boyfriend.

Buffy and Angel hurried down the stairs, she was holding Connor in her arms trying to calm him down. "What happened?" Angel asked as Buffy was too busy shushing and gently rocking the crying baby in her arms.

"It appears this was thrown through the window", Giles answered and handed Angel the rock with a paper tied around it.

He unwrapped the paper and read it out loud, "Hand over the baby and no one gets hurt." He let out a humorless laughter. "Why do I find it hard to believe?" he scoffed and crushed the paper in his fist.

"Oh, someone's going to get hurt. Who ever, what ever tries to take Connor will be missing body parts", Buffy threatened with a dark voice and no one doubted her words, she was like a lioness whose cubs were under threat.

"What I don't get is why did they just throw a threat note through the window, why not just stomp inside and take the baby?" Cordelia questioned and all eyes turned to her. Soon she noticed the weird looks she was getting. "Hey, I'm on your side. Just wondering", she defended herself.

"Because Willow and Tara are keeping a protective forcefield around the hotel and the demons can't get in", Buffy answered patiently.

"Oh? That makes sense. Kinda", Cordelia said more to herself than to others, her eyebrows furrowed together as if she was thinking real hard.

Buffy frowned, then turned her eyes to Connor who had just quieted. "Maybe we should take him upstairs to sleep", she suggested, her voice soft not to startle him.

"I can look after him!" Cordelia volunteered immediately. Buffy sent a glare at her way since the loud voice had made Connor jump and now he was looking like he was going to cry at any moment. But the glare went unnoticed by Cordelia and she continued, "You know I'm just the vision girl, you guys handle all the gross stuff."

Buffy looked around herself, her eyes landing on Willow and Tara who had just arrived to the lobby. "Did you get the sanctuary spell down?" she asked. Willow nodded with a quirky smile on her lips.

"Yes, it was really a fun challenge. You know, since it's a protecting spell it's not supposed to be taken down and we had to try to figure out how to get our hands into it..." She didn't finish her excited rambling. "Yeah, we got it down", she added somewhat sheepishly. Tara took her hand and gave her a soft smile to which she responded with its twin.

"Okay, that's good", Buffy said, then let her eyes go over everyone else in the room. "Here's the plan." Again she turned to direct to Willow and Tara, "I need you to go to the nursery and keep the protective field around it while letting it down from the hotel, you'll keep Connor safe with you. Cordelia will be there too and probably Lorne since I doubt those guys will let him just leave." Her eyes turned to Xander who shook his head.

"I'm not backing from a fight, I'm with you all the way", he said and Buffy gave him a small grateful smile.

"Just try not to get hurt", she instructed.

"That's usually my game plan. Not to get hurt."

"So we're going to fight?" Gunn asked for clarification.

"Yes", was the simple answer Angel gave him.

"Great. I was itching for a good fight anyway", Faith said with a smirk and raised the axe she was holding to rest on her shoulder. Gunn's eyes raked over her body, appreciating the tight low slung jeans she was wearing.

"I have new flamethrower I have been wanting to try", Wesley stated to himself and the Sunnydale crew looked at him strangely.

"Our boy, Wesley is all grown up", Xander said and wiped imaginary tear from his eye.

"Just don't aim it at Angel", Buffy said to Wesley. "And kill only vampires with it or the whole building will be on fire with demon torches running around", she added as a afterthought.

"Buffy, I am not dull witted", Wesley stated.

"I didn't say you were", Buffy defended herself. "Okay, everyone get ready for a fight because not one of those things is leaving here alive", she said gravely, then turned her eyes to Connor who had just fallen asleep. She and Angel shared a look and as if they had just agreed on something, he nodded and they headed upstairs with the two wiccans, Cordelia and Lorne soon following.

Buffy and Angel tucked their son to bed and said a silent farewell just in case they didn't make it. "Give us five minutes, then take the forcefield down. And don't let anyone or anything inside this room no matter what you hear", Buffy said to the people in the room.

"Okay. Good luck. And be careful", Willow said biting her lower lip, her hand was squeezing Tara's as if seeking for strength she didn't have.

"We will. See you in a while", Buffy said and turned around to go to the door.

"You better get back in one piece or I'm so gonna kick both your asses, unemployment line doesn't suit me", Cordelia said after them.

"We'll try to keep that in mind, Cordelia", Angel said with a barely noticeable smile on his lips before he and Buffy left the room. As the door closed, a brick wall put itself together where it was.

"Less than 24 hours ago I had to go through the most physically painful experience of my life and now I'm fighting to keep him safe, don't the demons have any consideration, they could have at least given me few days to recover", Buffy grumbled as they walked down the hall towards the stairs.

"Demons aren't known for their consideration but I'm sure if they had know, they would have given you time to get back to your full strength", Angel answered with a wry smile. She looked at him with narrow eyes.

"Are you mocking me?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe."

"LA has had a bad influence on you. I don't think I like this humorous side of you", she stated and he chuckled.

"Too bad, because you're stuck with every part of me", he said, then turned more serious. He took a hold of her hand and gently pulled her close to him. Their eyes met, both holding great sadness and worry. "I love you", he said staring into her eyes.

"Don't say it like that", she whispered, her voice cracking.

"Just in case, I want you to know it."

"I love you too but you're not allowed to talk like we're gonna die. Cause we're not! I am not letting Connor grow up as an orphan and no demon is gonna get its hands on him and if you even think about getting killed Cordelia's threat will be the least of your worries", she said passionately, staring him down as if challenging him to contradict her. A crooked smile rose to his lips and he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

"We better get downstairs before we miss the fight", he said and together they returned to the lobby. They took weapons from the cabinet and got ready for the demons to swarm inside. There was a change in the air as the forcefield came down, Angel and the slayers could feel it.

"Let the fun and games begin", Faith said and raised her axe, attacking the first demon that came through the door.

xxx

The fight had been long and gruesome but not one of the things that came after Connor had reached the staircase or left the hotel alive. The lobby floor was littered with dust and dead demons. Xander had been knocked unconscious in the middle of the fight, now he was in one of the hotel rooms being taken care of by Willow. During the fight Faith got slashed across the chest by a row of sharp fingernails but she retaliated by cutting the demons neck. And when Gunn got stabbed to the leg and the demon was about to finish the job, Faith stepped in, getting a shallow cut to the arm by the demon's sword but still managing to kill it thus saving Gunn's life. Wesley broke his eyeglasses when he got a wide fist to his face but otherwise he survived with just a split lip and various cuts and bruises as Giles was the one that had the most luck, he came out of the fight looking like he had been in a bad bar brawl but at least his glasses were still in one piece.

Everyone was getting patched up and Buffy and Angel resided to the bedroom, moving sleeping Connor there with them. Buffy pushed Angel down to sit on the edge of the bed and went to the bathroom to get the medicine kit. She placed it to the nightstand and reached out, starting to unbutton his torn shirt but he took her hands into his seizing the action. Her eyes raised to his, looking at him questioningly. "Angel, I need to take your shirt off, you've been stabbed through the stomach and it's a little hard to bandage with your shirt on", she said like talking to a five-year old.

"I'm not going to bleed to death so you're going to be attended to first", he argued, nodding to the gash on her side.

"It's already closing while you have a hole in your stomach", she tried but he gave her a look that she wasn't going to win the argument.

"Humor me." She sighed and reluctantly handed him the medicine box. He guided her to sit on the bed and started to clean the wound with a gentle touch.

"We should clean the lobby from the dead demons before someone sees them", Angel stated, trying to take her mind off of the sting that the cleaning of the wound caused.

"Yeah, I know. Why couldn't they just go poof, it would be so much easier. But still, I'm more worried about how we're gonna get the soot out of the lobby floor. I knew there was a reason why you can't play with fire indoors", Buffy said and Angel let out a soft chuckle.

"Wesley did get a little carried away with the flamethrower", he agreed. Angel finished cleaning the wound and put a bandage on it before starting to clean the cut she had in her forehead.

"That really can wait, now it's your turn", Buffy said and pulled his hand down, she grabbed the cotton ball from his fingers and threw it to the trashcan. She gently peeled his shirt off his body and started to clean the wound. It was already healing but that didn't make it look any less disturbing. "We should take Connor to his check up late tomorrow evening, maybe then we don't look like the aftermath of bad case of domestic dispute", she stated and dropped the bloody rag to the water bowl. Angel's eyes went to the sleeping boy next to the bed.

"Yes, I don't think it would give a very good impression", he agreed.

"Do you think the demons will come after him again?" she suddenly changed the subject. Angel turned his gaze to her, they both knew what the score was.

"Not any time soon, they need to regroup", he stated and silence fell to the room. Not one of the demons that attacked the hotel had left alive but that didn't mean there wouldn't be more of them. But both parents had made up their minds that none of them would ever be able to touch Connor.

.

To be continued...

* * *

**A/N: **Writing fight scenes really isn't my strongest point so that's why I skipped the fight. It always looks good in my head but when written I'm always disappointed.


	29. Decisions

**Title:** Heart and soul

**Author:** Helmi1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything, the story is from my head, but I do not own the characters. If I had anything to do with the shows the nightmare of C/A and B/S would never have happened.

**Rating:** If you can watch the show, you can read this. There is also the smut version of this, but this one is safe for all.

**Pairings:** B/A of course.

**A/N:** Sorry for the year long gap between updates, I'm really sorry so I won't make any excuses. But **THANK YOU** for the reviews and to all readers who are still with me and to those who have lost hope on this fic. This chapter is a long one so I hope you can forgive me, even just a little.

**A/N2:** These days I have two versions of this fic, this is the safe version, but I've also posted the uncensored one for the smut hounds (Heart and Soul: Unedited). I got the idea of posting two versions from Mac who did so with her fic With Arms Wide Open.

**

* * *

**

Chapter 29: Decisions

Connor let out a sharp cry, alerting the new parents that he was awake and in need of something, with a high possibility that it was food. "Coming, coming", Buffy mumbled and started to sit up, her eyes still closed. Angel reached out, gently placing his hand to her arm. She turned to look at him.

"I can go", he offered, he knew she needed her sleep. She gave him a sleepy, but adoring smile and shook her head.

"Can't. I'm thinking he's hungry and I'm the milk bar", she answered and grabbed her robe from the chair beside the bed and shrugged it on as she got up. She went to the crib and carefully took the crying baby into her arms. She gently rocked him, feeling his diaper and stating that it was dry, before sitting to the rocking chair Angel had got for her. She pulled at the cleavage of her robe and offered a nipple to Connor, without hesitation the baby latched on to the source of his dinner and started suckling.

Angel rose to lean on his arm as he watched the two, the sight was almost enough to make his dead heart jump to life. It looked so natural, like it was meant to be. His family. Buffy raised her eyes from their son to Angel and they shared a smile. Her eyes raked over his flimsily covered body, slowly making her way up his firm, flat stomach to the strong chest and arms that were naked under her gaze.

"Why do you have to look so good after just waking up?" she questioned with a pout, the recommended three sexless weeks were going to be very hard.

"So if another miracle happens Connor will get a little brother or sister", Angel answered with a crooked smile, running his hungry gaze over her body.

"Oh no, mister. I will be sleeping with a stake under my pillow cause no matter how much I love Connor I'm so not going through all that pain again", she stated shaking her head.

"Miracles don't happen very often. Though trying for another baby would be fun", he suggested, the roguish grin not leaving his lips. She stared at him with longing before shaking herself out of the lust hazed thoughts.

"Don't tempt me, Angel! Dr. Lang said that we have to wait about three weeks. So don't tease me! And try not to look so good." Refusing to look at his sexy muscled body that was tempting her, she turned her gaze to Connor who was starting to nod off.

xxx

Buffy glanced at the sleeping form of her lover and the father of their child and she couldn't stop herself from smiling at the sight. She knew he liked to watch her when she slept, but the habbit was mutual. Even though she couldn't say he was peaceful when he slept, he still looked less guilt ridden than when he was awake. She wanted to join him in the bed and kiss the frown off his face, but she didn't want to wake him. Also she was hungry and needed to get some food. She turned her gaze away from the sleeping vampire and to the baby that was wide awake. She leaned over the crib and smiled at her son.

"Hey there, honey. Wanna go downstairs with mommy while daddy sleeps?" she asked softly and when he made no objections, she gently picked him up and cradled him in her arms. She had a feeling she wouldn't make it to the kitchen with the epitome of cuteness in her arms and she was right. Once she reached the lobby, Willow spotted her and Connor and rushed over to them, sighing dreamily as Connor grabbed a hold of her finger.

"He's just the cutest thing I've ever seen!" she declared and looked at the baby boy with a sappy smile. "But does he have that slayer/vampire super strength thing going on cause that grip is just OW?" she asked as an afterthought and slowly pried her finger out of Connor's strong hold.

"Don't think so. But if he does, then I'm definitely not looking forward to his defiant age, it's bad enough that he'll probably inherit stubbornness from both me and Angel", Buffy answered with a frown. A child having temper tantrums with slayer strength, not a pretty picture.

"I bet he will", Willow grinned and Buffy sent a mock-glare at her way. Willow turned her gaze to the baby, then back to Buffy. "Can I hold him?" She raised her hands, showing Buffy her palms. "My hands are clean and I haven't touched any of Wesley's musty old books so my clothes are too."

"Okay, like last time, support the head", Buffy said with a smile and gently moved Connor into Willow's waiting arms, still holding his head until Willow slipped her hand under it. Willow smiled brightly as Connor just stared at her with wide eyes, showing no signs of fussing or crying like last time.

"How come you're down here with Connor? I thought you were hiding him upstairs away from people germs."

"I got hungry, there wasn't really anything in our kitchen cause I've been too busy having a baby and fighting demons to restock the food. Angel is sleeping, so I couldn't really leave Connor with him."

"And I'm keeping you from getting food", Willow stated with a deep frown.

"Will, I'm not gonna starve to death if you hold Connor for a little while", Buffy reassured the redhead, but she didn't look comforted. She shook her head, looking guilty.

"No, you should eat to keep your strength up. And I should be doing my part for the research party."

"There's a research party?" Buffy asked, surprised. Maybe Cordelia had had a vision. She glanced at the clock and which indicated that it was about the time that Cordelia usually showed up for work.

"Yeah. Giles and Wesley thought it would be a good idea to look up some demons that might be after Connor, their weaknesses and all that", Willow answered, then looked guiltily at the baby in her arms. "Okay, I think I better give him back to you and bury myself in the books", she added and gently gave Connor back to his mother.

Cordelia stood by the front door and looked at the people with a frown on her face. Buffy had brought Connor downstairs and now she was certain that even Xander had held the little boy and she still hadn't! Holding on to that thought, she walked over to the three and voiced a cool 'hey' before giving Willow a scrutinizing look.

"Still haven't managed to get a fashion sense, huh? The whole hippie look went out with the 'White Rabbit' and really, why does every shirt you own have to have some furry animal or crazy mix of colors in it?" she asked, running her criticizing gaze over Willow's appearance, taking in the redhead's blue t-shirt that had butterflies with a giggling bunny print on the front and a kitten playing with butterflies print on the back, the long multi-colored skirt and green sandals with a lizard decoration.

"Cordelia", Buffy chastised tiredly and gave the brunette a exasperated look.

"What? I'm just saying what everyone's thinking", she defended herself like she didn't know what Buffy meant.

"No one thinks that", Buffy answered, getting a little annoyed as Willow became even more self-conscious.

"Well, I've always thought so", Cordelia stated and when Buffy sent another look her way she let out a sigh of defeat and just left the room. Willow looked after the brunette, feeling even more self-conscious as she compared the red low-cut top, black cardigan and skirt that reached mid-thigh and red high heels that she was pretty sure were Prada or Gucci or some other big name, to her own attire. With a frown she looked down to her own clothing before turning to Buffy.

"I don't think this shirt is that bad. Tara likes it and I can't wear this very often because of Anya's bunny phobia", she defended her choice of clothes.

"No, it's not bad at all, it's cute. And don't mind Cordy, she's just cranky because she wasn't the first to hold Connor, or even the third, and now she's taking it out on every suitable target", Buffy reassured her, giving her a soft smile.

"Whose cranky?" came Angel's voice from behind her. She turned to him with a smile.

"Cordelia", she answered and her smile just widened as Angel tickled Connor's chin.

"Good, cause he doesn't look cranky. Is it because she hasn't got to hold him yet?"

Buffy smiled, looking at him adoringly. "Yes. You catch on quick."

"Should I be insulted?" he asked with a serious face, but Buffy could see the humor in his eyes.

"Nope, just stating a fact. You know I love your brains as much as your gorgeous looks", she answered, her voice playful. She gave him a quick peck on the lips and gently handed Connor into his arms. "I gotta talk to Giles. So could you look after him?"

"Do you really have to ask me that?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, staring at her straight in the eyes. She flashed him a little embarrassed smile, but he saved her from answering, already knowing the answer. "I think we'll go make things up with Cordelia, if she's in a bad mood we'll all suffer for it."

"I know, she already released her raft on Willow", Buffy answered with a frown and glanced at the redhead who had gone to Tara and now was digging into a pile of books. She turned back to Angel and brushed her hand over Connor's soft fuzzy hair, smiling down at him. "And why does it have to be this hard to leave him out of my sight even for a second? It's not like I'm even leaving the building."

Angel gave her a soft smile. "Now you know how I will be feeling when you and Faith take Connor to his check-up", he stated causing Buffy to frown and look up to him.

"I wish you could come with us."

"Me too."

For a brief while they just stared at each other until Connor started to move in Angel's arms to remind them that he was still there and wanted their attention on him. Both turned their eyes back to the baby in Angel's arms and he stopped fussing, happy that he had accomplished his goal. "Okay, I'm gonna have that talk with Giles while I still can", Buffy stated with determination. She brushed a soft kiss to the top of Connor's head before kissing Angel and quickly fleeing the scene before she could change her mind.

She walked into the office where Giles and Wesley were both neck deep in research, neither of them noticing her entrance. "I heard you're having a party", she stated casually and both men raised their eyes to her.

"I beg your pardon?" Giles questioned with a frown, not sure what she meant.

"Willow said you're doing research", Buffy clarified and glanced into the lobby, frowning as she didn't see Angel and Connor anymore.

"Well, yes. We thought it would be for the best to look up some possible demons and cults that might have unhealthy interest in the son of a vampire and the vampire slayer. This way we know the weaknesses and other traits, so we can be prepared", Giles explained and signed at the white board that was filled with demon names, their weaknesses and strengths. Giles got up from his chair and went to the board, quickly scribbling a demon's name to it.

"Excuse me, but I believe that specie is extinct", Wesley stated looking at the name.

"Remember what you said about Balthazar, the currently dead demon and his nearly extinct crew", Buffy said pointedly, looking at Wesley.

"I believe this is a entirely different matter", Wesley defended himself, feeling a little embarrassed of the reminder. Buffy's face softened.

"I'm not saying that to gloat or anything like that, I just mean that it might be safest to put up the so called extinct demons in case they aren't agreeing with the matter."

"Very well. Surely it will not do any harm, other than to my wrist", Wesley agreed.

"I'll give you a icepack", she offered with a innocent smile.

"Thank you very much", Wesley answered with a wry twist of his lips.

"Hey G-man!" Xander exclaimed and walked through the door, making his way to Giles. The older man took off his glasses and let out a tired sigh.

"Xander, have I not told you not to call me that, ever", he said with annoyance and put his glasses back on before fixing his eyes on the boy.

"You might have said something like that, once or twice", he answered casually, then glanced at Buffy, giving her an acknowledging nod. "Hey Buff." He turned back to Giles and handed him the book he had been holding. "This got into my pile and as much as I like boring long-winded books about disgusting demons, I prefer them in English instead of what ever language that is."

"It's in Aramaic", Giles stated glancing at the cover of the book. "You wouldn't happen to have the translated copy of this? I have one, but it is in Sunnydale", he asked Wesley.

"Sorry, but no."

"Very well, I will continue this once we return to Sunnydale."

"Well, as riveting as this conversation is, I think I'll go..." Buffy didn't finish the sentence when she noticed Xander signing at her. She raised a questioning eyebrow, not understanding to what he was trying to bring her attention to.

"Uhm... Buff... You're leaking", he finally managed to say and pointed at her chest. Buffy's eyes widened and she turned her eyes down, seeing two wet patches on her shirt. With a high pitched yelp she quickly covered her chest with her arms and raised her eyes back to Xander who was struggling to look away.

"Going now", she squeaked and fled the room as quickly as she could, not stopping until she was in the safety of the bedroom. She removed the milk stained shirt and was searching for a clean one when Angel walked in with fussing Connor in his arms. He ran his eyes over her half-dressed body before asking what had happened as he saw the wet shirt on the floor.

She turned to him, buttoning her blouse as she answered with a embarrassed blush, "A little leakage." She cleared her throat. "So how did taming the shrew go?"

"Fine. I think. But then Connor got a little cranky, I think he might be hungry", he answered looking down at the baby in his arms who was just starting to whine.

"Guess it's dinner time then", she stated and took Connor into her arms. She sat to the edge of the bed and started unbuttoning her shirt again as she tried to calm him down.

xxx

The cameras and audio had gone dead in the hotel and the nerds were doing their best to fix it. _Idiots_. Lilah knew Gavin's idea had been just a waste of time, the white hats had found the deranged soldier boy's wires in the hotel so why wouldn't they find something that a dimwit like Gavin had planted there. Gavin really was in the wrong company, at times like these she missed Lindsey, he was as fitting partner as he was an adversary.

Lilah picked up the folder from her desk and opened it, quickly reading the information. The kid had been taken to his first check up and there had been no less than two slayers guarding him. The new mother wasn't stupid, unfortunately. Lilah had considered just snatching the baby on the way to the hospital, but she was a realist, it wouldn't have been very easy and she strongly believed it would have been messy as well. The slayer was strong and inventive, but the baby would have made her more careful, so that evened the odds. But she also had Faith with her and that made Lilah confident that the snatch wouldn't have been successful, just waste of money and resources, not to mention a stain to her reputation. The younger slayer wasn't as strong as Buffy was, but she was a wild card, there was darkness in her that made her a bit more dangerous than the goody two-shoes blond.

Lilah removed the surveillance photo from the folder and let her gaze traveled over the brunette's features. Ideas of how she could use the brunette's insecurities and darkness in her nature to her advantage started to brew in the lawyer's mind, this should be interesting.

xxx

Since tea and food around Wesley's precious books was unthinkable, he had gone to the kitchen to get lunch after several long hours of research while Giles had stayed behind, content with the one cup of tea he had had couple hours before.

Buffy walked into the office and sat to the chair in front of the desk that was spilling with stacks of books. "How's the research going?" she asked glancing at the white board that had been already turned around to get empty space.

"Slowly, but surely. It is unlikely that many of those demons will be coming after Connor, but it is always better to be safe than sorry", he answered, then turned to look at Buffy finding something missing. "Where is he?" he asked with surprise in his voice.

"Sleeping. Angel is watching over him, doing probably the hundredth sketch of him", she answered and couldn't stop the small smile from rising as she thought of the two. Angel was so at awe with his son that could just stare at the sleeping infant without getting bored. Also he had already filled one sketch book with drawings of their son.

"Have you thought about what you will do now that Connor is born?" Giles' voice interrupted her thoughts. She raised her eyes to him. "I understand that Connor can not really travel just yet, but you may be a mother, you are also a slayer and you can not abandon your duties."

Buffy looked down, her lips forming into a pout. "Haven't really been thinking about it, everything's happened so fast that I haven't had the time. I can't really take Connor away from Angel and I can't stop slaying, so I'm really on the thinking stage of the problem."

Giles sighed, taking off his glasses. "You're quite right, you can not take Connor away from his father. But might I suggest a different kind of solution to the problem. Faith."

"Faith?" Buffy asked with a frown, waiting for him to clarify.

"She has made remarkable progress, she still doesn't take orders well, but she's trying. And her fighting skills have improved as well, if she were willing to stay in Sunnydale, you could continue living here. In this dreadful city."

Buffy couldn't help but smile at the tone of his voice when he mention L.A. "Okay, that's a good idea, but I'm not sure what Faith thinks about it. She's ready to strangle Xander..." Buffy's eyes widened as she caught herself, "to umm... not strangle Xander... to umm do something un-violent like telling Anya about him and her from years back. Which could get violent... Okay, back to topic. I think I'll just stop embarrassing myself and go talk to her", she finished awkwardly and turned around, quickly leaving the room.

She stopped at the lobby, frowning as she realized that she didn't know if Faith was even in the building. Her gaze fell on Gunn who was willing the sun to go down as he was anxiously waiting for his outing with the dark slayer. He was looking forward on seeing her in action, the only slayer he had seen was Buffy and he wanted to know if all slayers were as great fighters. Also he had always had a thing for hot women who could take care of themselves.

"Know where Faith is?" Buffy asked making him tear his eyes off the clock on the wall.

"She's stocking up before patrolling."

"That could mean either weapons or food. But since she's not at the cabinet, she must be in the kitchen", she thought out loud. "Thanks", she called out as she headed to the kitchen. She found Faith with her back to the door, digging into the fridge.

"Is Angel on a diet or something?" she asked without raising her gaze from the sandwich she was starting to make.

"No. Why?" Buffy returned the question, not understanding what she meant.

"You know, cause the fridge only has one container of blood. Spike's is full of it."

"Oh. Angel keeps the rest upstairs cause Cordy thinks it's gross to keep it in the same place as food. Gunn thinks it's a little squicky too, don't really know why cause he doesn't mind demon goo and all that. But I think Angel is afraid Wesley will make black pudding for breakfast out of it", Buffy answered with a shrug and took an apple from the fruit bowl on the table.

"What for breakfast?" Faith asked with a confused frown, turning to look at Buffy over her shoulder.

"It has something to do with blood and a frying pan. I think it's a English thing."

"Oh. Well Spike puts Weetabix crumbs into his blood so I can't really judge Wes' eating habits", Faith shrugged it off and came to sit to the table with her stack of sandwiches and a bottle of juice.

"So, you're taking Gunn out to a field trip", Buffy casually started the conversation, eying the apple in her hand like it was something very interesting.

"Yeah, we shared some vamp stories. Did you know he had his own vamp hunting crew?" Faith asked, a little impressed by the fact.

"Yeah", Buffy answered and leaned back in her chair.

"So I thought since he can take care of himself I could use him on tonight's patrol. See him in action, I didn't really have time to pay attention to his skills the other night since it was a real party in here."

Buffy's eyes returned to the apple and a frown formed to her face. Connor hadn't been even two days old when demons were starting to come after him. Once again the question of how she was going to keep him safe rose in her mind.

"So the little guy's with his daddy?" Faith's voice pulled her out of her glum thoughts. She raised her eyes from the table and looked at the brunette.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Figured why else would you be here with me when you can be playing house with the family."

"Actually I do need to talk to you."

"Yeah? Shoot", Faith said and took one more bite out of her sandwich before setting it down to the plate and taking a relaxed pose on the chair, giving Buffy her full attention. Buffy shifted uncomfortably and set her apple to the table, making a decision to go straight to the point.

"How would you feel about staying in Sunnydale? For a while at least", she asked uncertainly, looking at the brunette from under her lashes to see the reaction. Faith raised a single eyebrow.

"With you or solo?"

"Without me. At least for a while, until Angel and I figure out how to arrange the whole family and slaying in two places at the same time thing", Buffy answered, wringing her fingers as she watched Faith closely.

"Yeah. That's gotta be a bitch. You can't take the little tyke away from Angel, so you don't have much choices", Faith answered, still not giving a straight answer and Buffy was starting to suspect that she wasn't going to get one. The brunette leaned back in her chair and shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe I can stick around. I'm bored and there seems to be good action in ole Sunny-D," she said trying to sound as casual as she could.

"Are you really okay with that?" Buffy asked, wanting to be sure.

"Hey, I'm five by five, B. Maybe it's a chance for me to balance the scores, you know undo the damage I caused and help to save some lives in the process. I know I should be rotting in jail for the things I did, pay my debt to the society and all that shit, but honestly, I'm more of use on the outside than I would be as a jailbird. I'm a slayer, I was designed to be out there killing the bad guys and maybe that way I'll be of some use", Faith said feigning indifference, but Buffy could see the seriousness behind the facade.

"I think you can. Make a difference", Buffy agreed and Faith looked at her in mild surprise, the words coming from Buffy meant more to her than she would have liked.

"Thanks, B", she said, feeling more than a little uncomfortable with being so bare in front of Buffy. Wanting to get out of the awkward situation as soon as possible, she looked around her, like searching for a good reason to bail. She found one on the clock.

"Hey, it's almost sundown, I better get going before the vamps start without me", she said and got up from the table. She took the remaining sandwiches and headed to the door, but stopped before stepping out. "Hey, B." Buffy turned in her chair to look at her. Faith shifted uncomfortably under her gaze and then seemed to change her mind. "Um... Nothing. Just give the little tyke a kiss for me, okay", she said and walked out the door.

"Okay", Buffy whispered to the empty room, wishing she and Faith could get back the trust they shared before everything started to go bad.

xxx

There was a quick knock to the door. "Come in", Buffy called out, momentarily tearing her eyes off Connor that was laying on the be next to her. A beat later Giles stepped inside, giving her a soft fatherly smile as his eyes landed on the mother and child.

"I thought I'd let you know we are leaving soon, though I doubt Willow would ever agree to leave without saying goodbye. But Xander is in a hurry to get back since he has an early morning tomorrow. And I have to get back to the Magic Shop and it's doubtful that Willow is willing to miss her classes either", he informed her somewhat regretfully.

"You don't have to explain, Giles. You already told me you'd be leaving today, so it's not like you're sneaking out the back door", Buffy said with a small reassuring smile.

"Yes, but I do feel like we are. You could use some help, especially considering what just happened, but..." he was still thinking how to finish his sentence as gracefully as possible when Buffy interrupted him.

"But you have lives of your own. Giles, I get it. And believe me, we're gonna be fine and if it looks like something is about to happen, you're the first person I call."

Giles gave her a relieved smile and took off his glasses, rubbing the lenses against his jacket collar. "Yes, uhm... perhaps you should come downstairs before the whole lot comes here", he suggested a little awkwardly.

"Okay", she answered then turned to look at him speculatively. "How's your hands?"

Giles looked at her a little taken back. "I beg your pardon?"

"Your hands, have you been carrying musty books crawling with germs or something like that. In other words can you take Connor?" Buffy explained like he should have caught on immediately.

"The books are not 'musty' as you say. And my hands are quite clean", Giles defended himself and his books.

"Okay. I believe you", Buffy amended and got up from the bed. Gently she lifted Connor into her arms, brushing a soft kiss to his forehead before handing him to Giles. "I need to change my shirt, Connor decided to wipe his mouth on this one", she explained.

"No worries, I believe we will get along splendidly", Giles assured her, not taking his eyes off of the little boy in his arms.

"Okay, I'll be right back", Buffy said and quickly grabbed a light blue t-shirt from the closet before slipping into the bathroom to change. Few moments later she came out and took Connor back from Giles before the three made their way downstairs. She flashed Angel a smile as he raised his gaze from the papers Wesley was showing him and he returned the smile with a crooked lift of his lips until Wesley demanded to get his focus back to the papers. Buffy glanced at the bags waiting by the door, then turned to Giles.

"Aren't you going to wait until Faith gets back?"

"No, she informed me that she will not be returning back to Sunnydale just yet. She thought it would be for the best to stay here for few days until you are back to your full strength, and I completely agree with her. You just gave birth, you need some time to recover."

"I know, I know", Buffy sighed and glanced heavenwards, she couldn't wait for coming back to her full strength, all pregnancy she had been treated like she would break. "Maybe I could do some training with her since Angel thinks I'm breakable", she muttered to herself, but not loud enough for Giles to hear the words.

"What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing", she shrugged it off and turned her gaze to Connor who was pulling her hair demanding to have all of her attention. She barely noticed that Giles went to the office and returned with a stack of papers, but when he cleared his throat, she turned to look at him.

"I shall continue this once we get back to Sunnydale", he flashed her the papers in his hand, "I believe I have some books that Wesley does not, they might be found to be most useful. I think it would be best for you to keep on researching as well."

"Oh goody, homework", Buffy said with a faux smile followed by a grimace. She really wasn't as reluctant as she sounded because it was Connor's safety that was on the line, but old habits die hard and research had never been her favored pastime.

"Try not to worry too much", he continued ignoring her comment and covered her other hand with his own, giving it a soft fatherly squeeze. She offered him a small, appreciative smile and turned to Angel who had just managed to escape from Wesley. She gave Connor into his arms and turned back to Giles, pulling him into a warm hug.

"We're gonna visit as soon as Connor can travel", she promised. She had just managed to pull back from the hug when the front door flew open and Faith marched in, heading straight to the weapon's cabinet. She simply jumped over the bags on the floor, not bothering to waste time by going around them.

"Just came to get some toys", she explained her presence, not bothering to look at the people in the lobby.

A moment later Xander walked in with Willow and Tara following. Quickly he glanced around the lobby to see if Cordelia was present and to his luck she wasn't, but Faith was. Ignoring the brunette shifting through the weapons, he went straight to Buffy as the two witches stayed to admire the baby in Angel's arms.

"So, Buff, you ready to come back to the old hometown to be the number one slayer again?" he asked rubbing his hands together. Faith stopped what she was doing to glare at him, but he did his best to ignore her, deciding to focus on the blond that hadn't said anything back to him. He also noticed the lack of luggage and her very casual attire. "You're not backed. Or you're traveling very light."

Faith grinned and closed the cabinet door, giving the scene her full attention. Buffy opened her mouth to answer Xander, but the words just didn't come, she didn't know how to explain to him that Faith was going to continue as the slayer in Sunnydale.

"Buff's not coming with us?" Xander questioned a moment later, looking at the people around him to find an honest answer.

"No, she will not. At least not now", Giles answered matter of factly.

"But..." Xander started to protest when Faith jumped in.

"Shut it, Harris. You might not like me, but you're stuck with me cause now Buffy's got other people to take care of than just you. So learn to live with it."

"I didn't ask for your opinion", Xander snapped, pointing a finger at the brunette before turning back to Buffy. "So you're just gonna shack up here and forget your friends and duties, put Faith in charge so you don't have to. And you didn't even bother to tell us about it!"

"Xander! That is enough", Giles commanded with fatherly authority. Xander spun around, staring at him in disbelief. "Buffy told me about her decision to stay here in Los Angeles and I agree with it. She has a newborn child to consider and she is not abandoning her duties, she is still an active slayer and there is demonic activity in this dreadful city as well."

Xander turned his eyes to Willow, wanting to see if he had an ally, but she just kept her eyes on Tara, looking distressed. Realizing that his best friend wasn't going to join into the conversation, he turned back to Buffy. "Okay, I get the whole child thing, you're a mother, I get it. But can't you live in Sunnydale just as easily as here?"

"Xander", Buffy started with a desperate sigh. "I..."

She didn't get to finish when Xander threw his hands up in surrender and jumped in, "You know what, right now I just don't care. You have your life, I have my life and apparently they don't mix. I'm tired and I've got a early meeting tomorrow, so we just have to deal with this some other time. I'll wait in the car", he said tiredly and turned around, went to grab his bag and walked out the door.

Buffy looked around her helplessly, her gaze landed on Angel who had been fighting to stay quiet during the conversation. He hated to hear Xander say those things to her, especially knowing he was the reason, but he also resisted the need to jump in because he didn't want to make the situation worse or cause a rift between the two friends. Buffy's eyes were asking for his help and support, but he could only offer one of the two. Her eyes shifted to Willow before she turned and headed towards the door to go after Xander. Willow quickly rushed after her, grabbing her arm to stop her.

"Let him go, he needs to calm down before you guys talk. And I think he needs the dramatic exit, it's a guy thing", the redhead explained the reason why she stopped her.

"I just don't want to leave things like this", Buffy answered sadly, receiving a sympathetic smile from her friend.

"I know. And you guys will work this out once you both cool down, okay. And I understand your reasons to stay here, it doesn't mean that I'm happy about it, but I understand."

Buffy gave her a grateful smile and pulled her into a hug. "I miss you already, Will", she muttered softly. Willow pulled back and gave the blond a crooked smile.

"Me too. But I think I should go check on Xander", she said and nodded her head towards the door. When Buffy made no protest, she walked out the door to find Xander.

The sound of the cabinet lock drew Buffy's attention to Faith who had found the weapon she wanted. "So how you gonna get back to Sunnydale? You came here on Giles' midlife crisis mobile", Buffy questioned as she neared the brunette, she didn't have to worry about Giles hearing her description of his car since he had gone to talk to Wesley once the situation had cooled down.

"Spike will come and pick me up", Faith answered offhandedly with a wave of her hand. Buffy raised a questioning eyebrow, staring at the dark haired woman.

"He's not the most trustworthy person", she stated slowly. A mischievous smirk rose to Faith's lips.

"Oh, he will come and get me if he wants to get laid again", she answered and let out an amused chuckle as Buffy's face turned into a shade of pink and she looked away in embarrassment. "Come on, B. Stop being so virginal", she laughed and Buffy shot her an annoyed look that only made her laugh harder. She was still chuckling when she said that she was heading back out to where she had left Gunn and the grin was still in place as she walked out. Buffy couldn't help but roll her eyes.

She felt Angel standing behind her and with a grateful smile on her lips she turned around. "Do you think it's really serious?" she asked softly, noting that Connor was asleep in his arms.

"He'll get over it", Angel answered and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He longed to hold her, wanted to pull her into his arms and comfort her, but his arms were already full.

"I don't care about him, but Faith has never been really involved with a guy, so it's her I'm worried about. She says it's nothing serious that it's just a... fling, but what if she's just acting like she doesn't care to hide that she really cares and then she gets hurt because he's a evil and she loses the little fate she has on men and..." she stopped her rant as she noticed Angel staring at her with a questioning frown on his face.

"Who are we talking about?" he asked, to his knowledge Faith's brief fling with Xander was history and there had been no signs of her wanting to go back to it.

"Faith and Spike. What were you talking about?"

"Xander", he answered then looked at her more closely, his frown deepening, "You think Faith might be serious with Spike?"

"I don't know. Maybe not. She says she isn't, but she doesn't exactly have a let's-share-our-feelings-mentality. And I don't like leaving things like this with Xander, but Willow's right, we're both too upset to have any rational conversation", she explained with a sigh, jumping from one topic to another.

"It will work out. He cares about you, more than I would like, but he's never stayed angry for long. Besides, it's not you he's angry at", Angel tried to comfort her, once again feeling the need to pull her into his arms.

"Angel, it's not you, you didn't make this happen. I think he just feels left out because I didn't tell him about my staying here sooner, I just kept putting it off", Buffy denied vehemently to keep him from taking all the blame for everything. Both parents quieted as Connor stretched his arms and brushed his hand against his face, but didn't wake up.

"I think he should be put to a more comfortable place to sleep", Angel stated in a whisper, gazing at the baby in his arms. Buffy looked up at him with a grin.

"Have you ever heard me complaining? I think your arms are a very comfortable place to sleep in", she answered playfully. Angel turned his eyes to her, his lips curving into a soft smile.

"I don't think he agrees with you", he answered when Connor let out a soft whine.

"Or he's just telling us to shut up", Buffy suggested, refusing to believe that Angel's arms weren't the safest and most comfortable place on earth.

xxx

After a late night patrolling Faith was feeling a little edgy, so instead of going to bed she headed to the kitchen. She went through the cupboards, eating random foods until she found the right one that held the glasses and grabbed one before checking the fridge. She poured the glass full of juice and set the carton down to the tabletop. She didn't bother to put it back to the fridge. She would have preferred something stronger, but now that she was playing a good little slayer it was on the no-list. She sat to the table and took a sip from the drink, her eyes drawing to the door as she felt the vamp alert creeping down her spine.

"The missus and the little one keeping you up, big guy?" she smirked as Angel walked in through the door. He shook his head and headed to the fridge, picking up the juice carton on his way.

"No, they're both asleep", he answered. He set the carton to the door and took out a pint of blood before heating it in the microwave. Faith watched in surprise, Angel was actually going to eat in front of her. She turned her gaze back to the glass she was holding while Angel turned his back to the dark slayer, leaning to the edge of the sink with one arm. Even though he knew that the people closest to him didn't really mind him drinking in their presence, it still made him more comfortable to do it when they weren't looking at him.

"So, how's being a daddy treating ya?" she asked casually, taking a sip from her own drink. She heard him rinse his glass and set it down to the sink before coming to sit to the table.

"Wouldn't change it for the world. But at the same time I'm terrified", he answered with a small shake of his head like he couldn't believe he had confessed it to someone.

"Terrified? You, big guy?" Faith chuckled. After noticing the tortured look on his face, okay he was always looking tortured, but now there was more worry to it, she turned serious. "Okay, look. I always thought that a slayer who got a kid while on the job was a selfish bitch. B and I had a little chat about it years back and she agreed with me, only she didn't say the bitch part." Angel didn't seem to find any comfort in that. Noticing his look, she continued, "Let me finish. But I think you and B are gonna do great, you guys love the kid and I saw you guys fighting last night and there was no other option but to win. You're going to keep the little tyke safe and do all the happy family stuff while still making the world less evil."

Angel looked at the young woman in front of him. "It's just... I never thought it could be possible, to have this, to have a child. Let alone with Buffy. It's just a little frightening to be responsible for other person's life who really depends on you, who can't survive without your caring..." He quieted, staring at the table surface with a deep frown on his face.

"You and B will do great. Don't sweat it", Faith assured, patting the back of his hand. The heavy mood was making her uncomfortable, she had never been good with emotions. She glanced around her, feeling a little twitchy. "Uhm... I'm just gonna hit the sack. I bet B and the watcher have a big day of research in store for all of us", she said and got up from the table. She looked at the dark vampire feeling like she should try to make him feel less worried, but profound words escaped her. "Uhm... Are you gonna brood all night?"

Angel raised his gaze from the table and gave her a faint smile. "I'm fine. It's all just hitting me, but I'm okay. I think I better get back to bed too", he answered reassuringly. Once Faith had gone he got up from his chair and did some cleaning up before going back upstairs.

He opened the bedroom door as slowly and quietly as he could so he wouldn't wake Buffy or Connor. He smiled as he saw Buffy was still asleep, her hand stretched out over his side of the bed and her head half resting on his pillow. Soundlessly he moved to the crib where Connor was sound asleep, he didn't even dare to breathe, a habbit he had learned to blend into the crowd, so he wouldn't wake the sleeping baby. Quelling the need to run his fingers over the little boy's chubby cheek to make sure he was real, he got back to his feet and removed his clothes as he moved closer to the bed his mate was in.

Gently he took her hand into his and slipped into the bed. Buffy let out a soft murmur and snuggled against his side, a small smile forming to her lips as slid her arm over his waist, trapping him into her embrace like she was afraid that he'd disappear if she didn't hold on to him. He brushed a strand of hair off her face and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before closing his eyes and waiting for sleep to come, willing his thoughts to stay away from the worry of how he was going to keep his family safe.

.

To be continued...


End file.
